His 3:

Brilliant New Fiction by Gay Writers

Edited by Robert Drake and Terry Wolverton

Faber and Faber, $15 paper

If a book’s subtitle claims to contain “brilliant” writing, then it better deliver just that. His 3 doesn’t quite measure up to its boast. Give the editors credit for having assembled a diverse pool of writers who explore familiar gay themes (coming of age, AIDS, sexual desire) in fresh, often illuminating ways. But at the same time, many of the stories are burdened by clunky or pretentious or lackluster prose. Still, there are a good number of bright spots, including Robert Ordoña’s “World Without End,” which explores the effects new HIV drugs have on a couple long accustomed to the idea of death, and David Ebershoff’s “The Bank President,” a beautifully written account of a gay man in the 1930s who returns to his Midwestern hometown with his lover to take over his dead father’s bank. Is the collection brilliant? Not really. Is it worth a look? Certainly.

This article appears in September 17 • 1999.

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