Gordie and Troy have grown up together, born on the same day and being raised on neighboring farms, they were as close as brothers. Until Troy realized he was gay and Gordie definitely was not.
I was surprised by how involved I got in this vintage gay ‘adult’ novel. First things first, it’s really not much of a porn novel. If that’s what you’re hoping to find (and what the book was marketed as, after all) you’re going to be disappointed.
But as a story of a teenager realizing that he is gay and in love with a life long best friend who will never return that affection, it worked well. Troy also has to deal with being gay in a small town in 1968 (the year this book was published). In that time and place coming out of the closet wasn’t exactly an option.
This was not great literature. The book isn’t a lost gay classic. But it was much better than I was expecting and Troy was a believable (and frustrating) teenager, shifting back and forth between finding ways to cling to his fantasies of settling down with the straight Gordie and dramatically contemplating suicide. He swings back and forth between these poles repeatedly over the course of the book.
It even manages to pull a happy ending out of its hat. It could have been set up better and is melodramatic. But for a gay pulp book, it worked. I enjoyed it.
1 review for AB-0446 Good-Bye, Gay Love
James Seger (verified owner) –
Gordie and Troy have grown up together, born on the same day and being raised on neighboring farms, they were as close as brothers. Until Troy realized he was gay and Gordie definitely was not.
I was surprised by how involved I got in this vintage gay ‘adult’ novel. First things first, it’s really not much of a porn novel. If that’s what you’re hoping to find (and what the book was marketed as, after all) you’re going to be disappointed.
But as a story of a teenager realizing that he is gay and in love with a life long best friend who will never return that affection, it worked well. Troy also has to deal with being gay in a small town in 1968 (the year this book was published). In that time and place coming out of the closet wasn’t exactly an option.
This was not great literature. The book isn’t a lost gay classic. But it was much better than I was expecting and Troy was a believable (and frustrating) teenager, shifting back and forth between finding ways to cling to his fantasies of settling down with the straight Gordie and dramatically contemplating suicide. He swings back and forth between these poles repeatedly over the course of the book.
It even manages to pull a happy ending out of its hat. It could have been set up better and is melodramatic. But for a gay pulp book, it worked. I enjoyed it.