Gay Travels: A Literary Companion (Traveler's Literary Companions)

From the foreword by Felice Picano "This volume makes no attempt to rival those gay travel guides that already exist. It is something different, far more intriguing: a collection of stories that aim at being what Herman Melville deemed "an inside narrative." That is, what being a gay man in a foreign land really feels like, smells like, tastes like, and hurts like. The voices here might be likened to those of friends sitting around a dinner table the night before your journey who provide you with insights and warnings that only later do you discover add infinitely to your excursion." Table of Content Felice Picano "Foreword" Lucy Jane Bledsoe "Preface" Spain Brian Bouldrey "Pilgrim's Regress" Beijing Philip Gambone "Invading Their Space" Olympia Darieck Scott "Ride of the Centaurs" Tangier Joe Orton "Tangier Diary" California Rondo Mieczkowski "Bodies in Motion" India Adam Klein "A Desert Shade" Israel Hanns Ebensten "First Night in the Promised Land" Berlin and beyond Edmund White "Shopping" Central Africa Cary Alan Johnson "Obi's Story" Mexico City Andrew Holleran "Sleepless in Mexico" Sacramento Michael Nava "Journey to 1971" Tobago Achim Nowak "Jungle Fever 138" Russia David Tuller "Broken Romance" Barcelona Erasmo Guerra "La Placa Reial" Indiana Michael Lowenthal "Sand Niggers and a Tallboy Bud" Paris James Baldwin "Equal in Paris" Capri and beyond Paul Monette "A One-Way Fare" Felice Picano Foreword V1l Lucy Jane Bledsoe Preface xi SPAIN Brian Bouldrey Pilgrim's Regress 1 BEIJING Philip Gambone Invading Their Space 15 OLYMPIA Darieck Scott Ride of the Centaurs 27 TANGIER Joe Orton Tangier Diary 45 CALIFORNIA Rondo Mieczkowski Bodies in Motion 50 INDIA Adam Klein A Desert Shade 6o ISRAEL Hanns Ebensten First Night in the Promised Land 84 BERLIN Edmund White Shopping 92 AND BEYOND CENTRAL AFRICA Cary Alan Johnson Obi's Story 96 MEXICO CITY Andrew Holleran Sleepless in Mexico 119 SACRAMENTO Michael Nava Journey to 1971 130 TOBAGO Achim Nowak Jungle Fever 138 RUSSIA David Tuller Broken Romance 149 BARCELONA Erasmo Guerra La Plafa Reial 165 INDIANA Michael Lowenthal Sand Niggers and a Tallboy Bud 178 PARIS James Baldwin Equal in Paris 187 CAPRI Paul Monette A One-Way Fare 206 AND BEYOND Contributors 239 These 17 stories evoke a variety of experiences relevant to the gay traveller. In one of them Paul Monette strives to visit the ruins of Tiberius' villa during a cruise stop in Capri. In another Joe Orton combines drugs and sex in Tangier, while Philip Gambone finds gay life in Beijing.