(Major spoilers ahead. You’ve been warned!) “People see stories everywhere,” Regine says. “That’s what my father used to say. We take random events and we put them together in a pattern so we can comfort ourselves with a story, no matter how much it obviously isn’t true.” She glances back at Seth. “We have toContinue reading “We Are the Stories We Tell: Patrick Ness’ [More Than This]”
Tag Archives: queer
Unrealistic Expectations: (Meta)Narrative in Andrew Smith’s [Winger]
Warning: The following post contains major spoilers for Andrew Smith’s Winger. After reading Andrew Smith’s Grasshopper Jungle, I immediately knew that I had to read other works written by this author–and Winger seemed like the obvious choice. I finished reading Winger a couple of weeks ago. Typically, I write analyses and reviews of books soon after I read them, but for this novel,Continue reading “Unrealistic Expectations: (Meta)Narrative in Andrew Smith’s [Winger]”
On Closets and Straight Gazes – Bill Konigsberg’s [Openly Straight]
I was thinking about how snakes shed their skin every year, and how awesome it would be if people did that too. In a lot of ways, that’s what I was trying to do. As of tomorrow, I was going to have new skin, and that skin could look like anything, would feel different thanContinue reading “On Closets and Straight Gazes – Bill Konigsberg’s [Openly Straight]”
Queer Time in Edmund White’s [A Boy’s Own Story]
Edmund White’s A Boy’s Own Story is a coming-of-age novel centered on the sexual awakening of a queer teenage boy in the Midwest during the 1950s. The novel discusses topics such as the corruption of innocence, the pressures of masculinity in the lives of young boys, the emergence of childhood sexuality, and the exploration of humanity throughContinue reading “Queer Time in Edmund White’s [A Boy’s Own Story]”
The Role of Gender and Literature in Alison Bechdel’s [Fun Home]
Originally published in 2006, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic is a graphic memoir that led Alison Bechdel to commercial and critical success. Reminiscent of Art Spiegelman’s Maus, Fun Home explores the relationship between Alison and her closeted father, Bruce Bechdel, to shed light on themes such as gender, the coming-out process, and the complicated dynamics of family life. The explorationContinue reading “The Role of Gender and Literature in Alison Bechdel’s [Fun Home]”
Connection Failed: An Analysis of Christopher Isherwood’s [A Single Man]
Failure is found at the heart of many great works of fiction. It is a common motif used to spark an emotional connection, sympathy, and at times, anger. Failure is not only the heart of Christopher Isherwood’s A Single Man–is also the blood, the flesh, and the soul of this novel. Centered on a single dayContinue reading “Connection Failed: An Analysis of Christopher Isherwood’s [A Single Man]”
Conceal, Don’t Feel: A Queer Reading of Disney’s [Frozen]
Don’t let them in, don’t let them see Be the good girl you always have to be Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know Well, now they know. – Queen Elsa, “Let It Go” – Disney’s Frozen Last night I saw Frozen, Disney’s adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale entitled The Snow Queen. After seeing the film,Continue reading “Conceal, Don’t Feel: A Queer Reading of Disney’s [Frozen]”
J.C. Lillis’ [How to Repair a Mechanical Heart]: A Gay YA Novel on Fandom, Religion, and Canonicity
If there is one thing that gay young adult fiction should be thankful for, that thing would be the internet. Because of the advent of the web, we have witnessed the increase of self-published e-novels distributed through online stores such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Self-publishing, in my opinion, greatly expands the possibilities ofContinue reading “J.C. Lillis’ [How to Repair a Mechanical Heart]: A Gay YA Novel on Fandom, Religion, and Canonicity”
On Happy Endings and Gay Fiction: E.M. Forster’s [Maurice]
“A happy ending was imperative. I shouldn’t have bothered to write otherwise. I was determined that in fiction anyway two men should fall in love and remain in it for the ever and ever that fiction allows, and in this sense Maurice and Alec still roam in the greenwood. […] Happiness is its keynote–which byContinue reading “On Happy Endings and Gay Fiction: E.M. Forster’s [Maurice]”
Queer Times: An Analysis of David Levithan’s [Two Boys Kissing]
In the notes and acknowledgments section written at the end of Two Boys Kissing, author David Levithan states that “This isn’t a book I could have written ten years ago” (199). Levithan is absolutely right. Back in 2003, when I was still a sophomore in high school, I could never fathom the possibility of finding aContinue reading “Queer Times: An Analysis of David Levithan’s [Two Boys Kissing]”
Dr. Angel Daniel Matos 