Contra/Diction

the long version

Keenly surveying the borders of queer male community and identity, the fictions of "Contra/Diction", a collection of stories by queer male writers from the U.S. and Canada, resist simple answers to complex questions. They suggest that while the "gay community" is becoming more "accessible" and "visible", there are regions and mindstates that cannot or refuse to subscribe to it, recognizing the plurality of gay identity. Mordant, coarse, and full of angry, wry truths, *Contra/Diction* asks pressing questions of both the culture of queer men and the larger world in which it is often uncomfortably enmeshed. The nightmare and paradise of sexuality, love, and community are viewed from different perspectives, along with issues of race, economics, violence, politics, and homophobia. Pulling no punches, *Contra/Diction* is a snapshot of queer male life in North America at the cusp of the millennium.