Melville House Books

Is it repressive to categorize books as “gay fiction,” or to have specialized gay and lesbian bookstores? In a New York Times Book Review commentary last week, novelist David Leavitt argued that it’s time to “retire the category” of the “gay novel,” because we are living in a “post-gay” era, with numerous “novels and stories whose authors, rather than making a character’s homosexuality the fulcrum on which the plot turns, either take it for granted, look at it as part of something larger or ignore it altogether.” But in a response, Akashic publisher Johnny Temple says gay bookstores “play a vital function in today’s relatively sterile retail environment.” In his weekly Book Standard column, Temple says, “Progressive communities and subcultures need our institutions now more than ever, what with the Patriot Act, the senseless and tragic war, and Republican political domination.” About the categorization of “gay novels,” however, Temple says he shares with Leavitt some “skepticism.” Says Temple, “Most of the queer authors I publish choose to leave the words ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian’ off their book jackets. The primary concern isn’t that homophobic book-buyers will disregard them — it’s that their books will be pigeonholed by booksellers and the media.” Temple also observes that the problem is not limited to gay and lesbian literature: “Many black writers similarly yearn to escape being categorized by race.”

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.