In "A Venice Story," Edmund White explores the ever-narrowing gulf between desire and death, while Jim Grimsley's "Boulevard" views desire through the perpective of pornography and tabloid news. "Ciccone Youths 1990" finds Bruce Morrow's lonely, ailing African-American protagonist entering a rollicking fantasy world populated by four drag queens and their ultimate heroine, Madonna. There are also stories by newcomers like David Tuller, whose "Sperm-and-Egg Tango" puts the friendship of a gay man and a lesbian to the test when they consider the possibility of parenthood. Patrick Ryan's "Second Island" chronicles an American traveler's obsession with a beautiful French hustler, and "Gold" is Alexander Chee's story of a young man of Korean and Argentinean descent who confronts both his mixed heritage and his evolving sexuality. Here, too, are timely variations on such topics as coming out, breaking up, sex and AIDS, growing up gay and ethnic, gay marriages, and gay men and fatherhood.
(from the publisher)

Contents:

• Introduction by David Bergman and Karl Woelz
• Arrival by David Vernon
• Boulevard by Jim Grimsley
• "Ciccone Youths 1990" by Bruce Morrow
• The Color of Rain by Michael Villane
• Erasing Sonny by Kelly McQuain
• Gold by Alexander Chee
• The Holy Spirit Bank by Brian Bouldrey
• Home by Bill Gordon
• Quality Time by Jim Provenzano
• Quiet Game by William Lane Clark
• A Really Weird Thing Happened Recently by Len Ingenito-DeSio
• Regular Flattop by J.G. Hayes
• Scarecrow by Tom House
• Second Island by Patrick Ryan
• Silent Protest by Craig T. McWhorter
• Sperm-and-Egg Tango by David Tuller
• The Third Person by David Groff
• The Universe, Concealed by Richard McCann
• A Venice Story by Edmund White
• We're All Chicken Here by Jeff Kuhr