A Short-Story Writer’s Dark Humor
Posted on | October 29, 2011
- Peter Cassels
Michael Graves, a gay fiction writer, has written his first book, a collection of short stories published in September.
Written mostly from a gay child’s perspective, Dirty One has already received some rave reviews.
“I didn’t set out to make a collection,” Graves, a resident of Leominster, Massachusetts, told Options in an interview. “I was just writing short stories about different aspects of my childhood. They were dark and a little humorous.”
Most of the stories take place in Leominster, where the author has lived all his life except for stints in Cambridge and Boston. “Oh, and L.A. for a month,” he added. “I moved back here and met my husband, also a lifelong resident. We’ve been together for nine years.” They wed not long after marriage equality became legal in the Bay State in 2004.
Like much fiction, Graves’s stories are based on fact. Writing from a gay child’s perspective is unique, but it’s based on his personal experience.
“I knew I was gay when I was five or six years old,” the author said. “I accepted it and never struggled with it. Everybody has a different experience. I have friends who came out at different ages, some in their thirties.”
When told that his stories remind one of the well-known gay author David Sedaris because of their dark humor, Graves confirmed that Sedaris is a role model. “Other writers who inspire me are Truman Capote and Bret Easton Ellis, who wrote American Psycho and Less Than Zero,” he added.
One of his stories, “From Kissing,” is about the ignorance and fear surrounding HIV in the 1980s. The main character Butch, a sixth grader, worries that he has contracted AIDS from tongue-kissing his friend Milo.
Back then, “The only information about gay life that trickled down to me was bad jokes,” Graves recalled. “I distinctly remember when AIDS started. It was very clear to me about how to prevent the virus, but there was still this air of mystery.” He’s always been obsessed with his health, the author explained. His book reflects that.
“The title story, ‘Dirty One’ is about a boy whose mother suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder,” Graves reported. “It’s a theme that runs through the stories — what it means to be dirty and what it means to be clean.” “Comb City,” the title of another story, is a euphemism for Leominster, which is still called the plastics capital of America. That famous scene from the film “The Graduate” immediately comes to mind.
“Back then, when it was a still big factory town, there would be these small black plastic combs to use on your hair before you had a school photo taken,” Graves said in explaining the story’s title. Pollution was a byproduct of the town’s factories. “In that story, I write about the older brother of the principal character talking about how the air you breathe is going to kill you,” he said.
It’s unfair to ask a short-story writer which one in a collection is a favorite. After all, they are all the author’s children. “It is difficult, but ‘Sea Horse’ is a favorite because it’s about a young gentleman named George who’s 17 or 18,” Graves answered after some thought. “He desperately wants to have a child. I went into a darker place for that piece.” The story was nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the Million Writers Award.
“Get this book and read it now so you can say you knew Michael Graves when (or at least you can say you knew his writing when),” wrote one critic who gave the book five stars on its Amazon.com page.
Graves earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing at Lesley University in Cambridge. His work has appeared in such literary journals as Lodestar Quarterly, Velvet Mafia, Jack Magazine and Cherry Bleeds. His stories have also been included in the print anthologies Cool Thing, Best Gay Love Stories 2006, and Eclectica Magazine’s Best Fiction, Volume One.
Dirty One
By Michael Graves
Paperback, 152 pp.
Chelsea Station Editions
About
Rhode Island’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Newsmagazine Since 1982
PO Box 6406
Providence, RI
02940-6406
(401) 724-LGBT
| Info: | info@optionsri.org |
| Editor: | editor@optionsri.org |
| Ads: | advertising@optionsri.org |
| Web: | admin@optionsri.org |