Something Inside: Conversations with Gay Fiction Writers by Philip Gambone (review)

both" (25). Other than this oversight, this portion of the book contains some insightful and thought-provoking comments on autoeroticism and lesbian transgression . The final chapter contains a discussion on the integration ofgender in new Latina writing. McCracken determines that some Latina writers will knit in gender to establish a link with ethnicity and social justice. She pinpoints how other Latina authors favor developing gender issues over other components which contribute to identity formation. McCracken delivers a strong interpretation of Viramontes' Under the Feet ofJesus in which she evaluates how the author connects gender with race, ethnicity, and social justice. Worth mentioning as well is McCracken's close reading of Cherrie Moraga's Giving up the Ghost, wherein the critic evaluates Moraga's powerful criticism and depiction ofpatriarchal violence. Well-written and engaging, New Latina Narrative: The Feminine Space of Postmodern Ethnicity presents a valuable perspective on Latina narrative. Individuals interested in U.S. Latina culture and literature will find this book a valuable source of information. % Philip Gambone. SomethingInside: Conversations with Gay Fiction Writers. Photographs by Robert Giard. Madison: University ofWisconsin Press, 1999. 34 Ip. Steven F. Butterman University of Miami Philip Gambone's ambitious collection ofinterviews contains the uncensored and spontaneous perspectives oftwenty-one male writers who self-identify as gay. The interviews were conducted over the course ofeleven years, and the book is clearly divided into three separate sections, containing six to eight authors in each: "The Early Bay Windows Interviews (1987-1990)," which previously appeared in the gay-themed newspaper ofthe same name; "The WOMR Interviews," conducted in 1993 as part of the author's contributions to a community radio station in Provincetown, Massachusetts; and "Later Interviews," spanning from 1994 to 1998. Each of the interviews is highly unpretentious and, while Gambone refers to specific novels published by each ofhis subjects, he engages them in conversations which transcend the need for rigid or statistical questionnaires. In a natural flow from one question to another, including the "urns" and other elliptical punctuation associated with normal pauses during dialogue, the interviews prove far more effective than the standard, more formulaic practice ofaddressing the same quesFALL 2000 F ROCKY MOUNTAIN REVIEW * 149 tions with each ofthe authors in order to arrive at points ofcomparison. Instead, Gambone, whose experience as professor ofcreative writing significantly enhances the quality of the interviews, has devised a set ofquestions for each specific author , based on his own readings of their works. The interlocutor, therefore, actively participates in the content and the direction ofthe interviews he conducts. While this method sacrifices some degree ofobjectivity as a result ofconceiving a separate set ofquestions for each interviewee, it is interesting to note that many of the same themes emerge in the majority of these conversations. The title ofthe book is significant for historical, psychological, and even sentimental reasons. In his introduction, Gambone comments that each of the broadcasts for the WOMR radio station alluded to above began with an excerpt from "Something Inside So Strong," a popular song recorded by the Flirtations, a gay a cappella group, many ofwhose members have since died ofAIDS. Indeed, the title seems to define the purpose ofcompiling the dialogues. What Gambone seeks to accomplish in each ofhis interviews is to explore the need, the impetus to write, and even the notion ofwriting as survival mechanism, a process which holds true for nearly all the men whose voices emerge naturally, if not always eloquently, in these pages. Gambone is concerned with the evolution ofthe gay male novel from 1978 to 1998, highlighting themes such as meditations on AIDS; "coming out"; identityformation , including proliferation of multiple identities, particularly being Jewish , black, orAsian as well as homosexual; and aging issues in the gay community. The dialogues also consider generic aspects within the "gay male novel," such as viewing urbanity as the most common backdrop for expression of gay motifs, debating the controversial fine line between homoeroticism and gay male pornography . Such discussion complicates much of the writings of feminist and postmodern literary critics, which primarily address constructions ofgender roles based on cultural notions of masculinity and femininity. The concept ofthe "gay male novel" is itselfhighly problematized throughout the interviews. In fact, if there is...