An edition of Couplings (1981)

Couplings

a book of stories

  • 4 Want to read

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Last edited by MARC Bot
December 8, 2022 | History
An edition of Couplings (1981)

Couplings

a book of stories

  • 4 Want to read

From a review by "Stephen" on Goodreads:

This is a single author collection of eleven short stories detailing the various permutations of relationships experienced by gay men.

"The Prisoner of Love" opens the collection with a well to do man inviting his poor but passionate activist friend down to his Puerto Rico retreat for a vacation. After arranging with one of the locals for his guest to have a "good vacation" our host is stuck footing the bill rather than disillusioning his idealistic guest.

In "Colors" we have an anti- "Heart of Darkness" story when a black Puerto Rican recounts his trip into deepest darkest Manhattan and the cruelty he finds there.

In "Death in San Juan" the author attempts a twist on the Death in Venice story but it's not very parallel. A young Mid-western bred doctor, living alone in New York gets entangled with a Puerto Rican family and learns to live life on a different level until a life threatening event scares him and he retreats back into his more normal, less fulfilling, but ultimately safer existence.

In "The Household God" we have a reprise of the "Piña Colada" song involving a gay couple whose relationship has grown stale.

In "Koan" we meet a trophy boy who, while exploring Zen meditation, discovers that "the opposite of everything" is also true and that some qualities of his sugar dad that he previously found enraging are actually endearing.

Finally, in "The Boy Who Would Be Real" we see the long and painful coming-out of a young man who has been suppressing his true self in hopes of becoming the "Real Boy" that his parents always wanted.

The stories are well-written and skilfully observed and men of a certain age will find much to identify with but as with most short story collections, this reader was ultimately unsatisfied as each character was abandoned following their story and no full length sense of fulfillment was reached.

But then I've always been a sucker for the mega saga. These stories are well told. You should read this collection if you enjoy shorter length tales. Judge for yourself.

Publish Date
Language
English
Pages
185

Buy this book

Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: Couplings
Couplings: a book of stories
1981, Grey Fox Press, distributed by the Subterranean Co.
in English

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Book Details


Table of Contents

The prisoner of love.
The taste of spring.
Colors.
Death in San Juan.
The servant problem.
The household God.
The judgment of Midas.
The koan.
The bad penny.
A touch of fat.
The boy who would be real.

Edition Notes

Published in
San Francisco, Eugene, Or

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
813/.54
Library of Congress
PS3558.A3735 C68

The Physical Object

Pagination
xiii, 185 p. ;
Number of pages
185

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL4111606M
Internet Archive
couplingsbookofs00hall
ISBN 10
0912516577, 0912516585
LCCN
80026609
OCLC/WorldCat
6942442
Library Thing
128512
Goodreads
3934060
7317392

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History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON
December 8, 2022 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
February 13, 2020 Edited by MARC Bot remove fake subjects
September 14, 2014 Edited by Ronald Waugh Added new cover
September 14, 2014 Edited by Ronald Waugh added description
December 10, 2009 Created by WorkBot add works page