On Pretentiousness

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Introduction 1
4. Your First Audience Is Your People 22
5. American Glasnost and Reconstruction 29
6. AIDS and the Responsibility of the Writer 36
7. Does Your Mama Know about Me? 41
8. The Effects of Ecological Disaster 47
9. More Fuel to Run On 52
10. AIDS Writing 58
11. Lesbians and Gays of African Descent Take Issue 64
12. The Color of My Narrative 69
13. Survival Is the Least of My Desires 80
14. Speaking a World into Existence 95
15. I’ll Be Somewhere Listening for My Name 101
16. What Fiction Means 108
17. The Gift of Open Sky to Carry You Safely on Your Journey as Writers 116
18. An Exceptional Child 123
19. Aversion/Perversion/Diversion 136
20. Less Than a Mile from Here 147
21. Two Poems 161
22. We Have to Fight for Our Political Lives 166
23. On Pretentiousness 180
24. Heroes and Saints from Downtown 190
25. Remembrances of a Gay Old Time 196
26. Imagination and the Mockingbird 209
27. A House of Difference 226
28. Keeping Our Queer Souls 243
29. Making a Fresh Start 254
30. A Menopausal Gentleman 264
31. Voices from Out Write 269
32. Acknowledgments 293
33. Notes on Contributors 295
34. Permissions 305
35. Index 307