GLBT Literature: Recommended GLBT Books
Here are some exceptional works about Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) experience — past, present, and even future. Most are written by GLBT authors. Books range from classic to current, and are divided into seven categories. To keep the length manageable, authors are usually limited to one title. All available public domain works (Shakespeare, Whitman, Wilde, many more) link to free, unabridged copies. For biographical and historical information, see the glbtq encyclopedia. New! Thanks to Prof. Josiah Blackmore (University of Toronto) for recommending two medieval Arabic works: Ahmad al-Tifashi's Delight of Hearts and Shayk Nafzawi's Missing Flowers.
These GLBT authors' books are already at the core of Western culture. The same is also true for the works of GLBT visual artists, GLBT composers, GLBT filmmakers, and more. We revere their public contributions, but their sexual orientation — a fundamental part of who they are — often has been obscured, which is why a GLBT focus is worth considering.
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Allison, Dorothy |
Bastard Out of Carolina |
Young woman survives a brutal childhood; 1992 |
Alther, Lisa |
Kinflicks |
Coming out in tumultuous 1950s/60s; 1976 |
Barker, Pat |
Regeneration |
World War I through historical and fictional characters; author continues trilogy with Eye in the Door and Ghost Road; 1992 |
Bartlett, Neil |
Ready to Catch Him Should He Fall |
Passionate, experimental novel about gay and straight families; 1990 |
Bolaño, Robert |
By Night in Chile |
Last night of a gay priest who secretly instructed the dictator Pinochet; 2000 |
Bram, Christopher |
Surprising Myself |
A moving exploration of gay, and many other, relationships; 1987 |
Bram, Christopher |
Father of Frankenstein |
Fiction about the last days of great filmmaker James Whale; 1995 |
Brown, Rita Mae |
Rubyfruit Jungle |
Spunky lesbian comes out with a bang; 1973 |
Burgess, Anthony |
Earthly Powers |
Relationship of gay novelist and Pope; 1980 |
Cameron, Peter |
The Weekend |
Three people remember their dead friend; 1994 |
Chabon, Michael |
Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay |
Two brilliant cousins create a comic book superhero, in this epic Pulitzer Prize-winning novel; 2000 |
Chatwin, Bruce |
On the Black Hill |
80 years in lives of Welsh twin brothers; 1982 |
Cooper, Dennis |
Closer |
Obsessions about an enigmatic man; 1989 |
Cunningham, Michael |
The Hours |
Experiences of three women, including Virginia Woolf, spanning the 20th c.; 1998 |
Dykewomon, Elana |
Riverfinger Women |
Woman triumphs over prostitution and abuse; 1974 |
Ellis, Bret Easton |
Less Than Zero |
How a group of nihilistic Generation X college students spend their Christmas vacation; 1985 |
Feinberg, Leslie |
Stone Butch Blues |
Lesbian passes as man in 1960s NY; 1993 |
Ferro, Robert |
The Family of Max Desir |
Man tries to unite his gay and straight lives; 1983 |
Flagg, Fannie |
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe |
Two women become partners, in love and business, running a small Alabama cafe; 1987 |
Forrest, Katherine |
Curious Wine |
Best-selling lesbian love story; 1983 |
Fox, John |
Boys on the Rock |
Tender, funny gay coming of age novel; 1984 |
Glass, Julia |
Three Junes |
Loves and losses in a Scottish family during three fateful summers; 2002 |
Grimsley, Jim |
Dream Boy |
Boy survives incest through a friend's love; 1995 |
Grumbach, Doris |
The Ladies |
Based on historical 18th c. lesbian couple in Wales; 1984 |
Harris, Bertha |
Lover |
Experimental work "from the libido"; 1976 |
Holleran, Andrew |
Dancer from the Dance |
Life in '70s NYC fast lane; 1978 |
Hollinghurst, Alan |
The Swimming-Pool Library |
Interracial affair in pre-AIDS London; 1988 |
Kenan, Randall |
Let the Dead Bury Their Dead |
Stories about the diverse people living in a small North Carolina town; 1992 |
Leavitt, David |
Lost Language of Cranes |
Father and son, both gay, come to terms; 1986 |
Lurie, Alison |
The Last Resort |
"Perfect housewife" explores lesbian life; 1998 |
Maupin, Armistead |
Tales of the City Series |
Six funny, moving novels centering on San Francisco's freewheeling 28 Barbary Lane; 1978-91 |
McCauley, Stephen |
The Object of My Affection |
Gay man and straight woman share a Brooklyn apartment – and their lives; 1987 |
Monette, Paul |
Halfway Home |
Dying drag performance artist finds love; 1991 |
Nadas, Peter |
Book of Memories |
Magnum opus about postwar Hungary; 1985 |
O'Neill, Jamie |
At Swim, Two Boys |
Two young men seek political and romantic freedom during Dublin's tumultuous 1916 Easter Uprising; 2001 |
Plante, David |
Francoeur Trilogy |
Boy grows up in a Franco-American home: Family, Country, & Woods; 1978-82 |
Puig, Manuel |
Kiss of the Spider Woman |
Apolitical gay man and straight revolutionary share Argentine prison cell; 1976 |
Purdy, James |
In a Shallow Grave |
Passionate, lyrical tale of a disfigured war veteran returned home; 1975 |
Renault, Mary |
The Persian Boy |
Alexander the Great and his lover; 1972 |
Russell, Paul |
The Coming Storm |
Four interwoven perspectives on a student/teacher affair at a private boys' school; 1999 |
Sadownick, Douglas |
Sacred Lips of the Bronx |
Moves between a young man's first love in the 1970s Bronx and relationships in 1991 L.A.; 1994 |
Schulman, Sarah |
Rat Bohemia |
Cast-off lesbians and a gay man form a family; 1995 |
Selvadurai, Shyam |
Funny Boy |
Growing up gay in Sri Lanka; 1996 |
Shockley, Ann Allen |
Loving Her |
Landmark novel of interracial lesbian relationship; 1974 |
Spanbauer, Tom |
The Man Who Fell in Love With the Moon |
Taming of Wild West, as told by a gay shaman; 1992 |
Swift, Edward |
Splendora |
Man returns to hometown as Miss Jessie; 1978 |
Tóibín, Colm |
The Story of the Night |
Gay man comes of age during Argentina's violent struggle towards democracy in the 1980s; 1993 |
Truong, Monique |
The Book of Salt |
Fictional memoir of Vietnamese cook to Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas; 2003 |
Walker, Alice |
The Color Purple |
Abused woman finds self-acceptance through love with a blues singer; 1982 |
Warren, Patricia Nell |
The Front Runner |
Track coach and star runner fall in love; 1974 |
Waters, Sarah |
Tipping the Velvet |
Young lesbian seeks a "life of sensation" in 1890s England; 1999 |
White, Edmund |
A Boy's Own Story |
A self-corrupting gay youth in the 1950s; 1982 |
Winterson, Jeanette |
Oranges are Not the Only Fruit |
Lesbian teen grows up in British fundamentalist family; 1985 |
 || Contemporary | Pre-Stonewall | Fun Stuff | Genres | Drama | Poetry | Non-Fiction || More Lists |
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Ameng of Wu |
The Cut Sleeve |
2,500 years of Chinese gay stories; 1910 |
Baldwin, James |
Go Tell It on the Mountain |
A black Pentecostal teenager discovers the truth about himself and his family; 1953 |
Baldwin, James |
Giovanni's Room |
Tragedy of a gay man who cannot love; 1956 |
Balzac, Honoré |
Vautrin (Jacques Collin) Series |
First major gay character – master criminal Vautrin (Jacques Collin) – appears in 5 books of Balzac's monumental series The Human Comedy [following links are to FREE online copies] Lost Illusions I: A Distinguished Provincial at Paris & Lost Illusions II: Eve and David, Scenes from a Courtesan's Life, Father Goriot, & The Deputy of Arcis ; 1833-47 — Balzac also wrote a play entitled Vautrin (1840) |
Balzac, Honoré |
Tragic story of a lesbian relationship; 1835 |
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Bannon, Ann |
Beebo Brinker |
Four landmark "pulp" lesbian novels; 1957-62 |
Barnes, Djuna |
Nightwood |
Woman seeks a love "not yet in history;" 1936 |
Behn, Aphra |
Influential early novel based on an enslaved African prince whom Behn actually knew in Surinam; 1688 |
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Bowen, Elizabeth |
Death of the Heart |
Lyrical, complex novel about a British teenage girl's troubled coming of age; 1938 |
Bowles, Jane Auer |
Two Serious Ladies |
Two friends seek happiness in very different ways; 1943 |
Bowles, Paul |
The Sheltering Sky |
Love triangle among Americans in North Africa; 1949 |
Brophy, Brigid |
In Transit |
Experimental look at gender; 1969 |
Burroughs, William S |
Naked Lunch |
Surreal, paranoiac Beat Generation classic; 1959 |
Butler, Samuel |
Autobiographical novel about coming of age in Victorian England; 1902 |
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Caminha, Adolfo |
O Bom-Crioulo |
Brazilian novel of interracial love affair between a sailor and cabin boy; 1895 |
Capote, Truman |
Other Voices, Other Rooms |
Growing up "different" in the (Gothic) South; 1948 |
Cather, Willa |
Courageous immigrant in Nebraska; 1918 |
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Cather, Willa |
Death Comes for the Archbishop |
40 years in the lives of two missionary priests in 19th c. American Southwest; 1927 |
Cheever, John |
Wapshot Chronicle |
A family and a town both falling apart; 1957 |
Colette |
Claudine |
Adventures of a young French lesbian; 1900 |
Compton-Burnett, I. |
More Women than Men |
Goings-on at a private all-girl school; 1933 |
| Döblin, Alfred | Berlin Alexanderplatz | Experimental epic novel, and a landmark of German literature, about a 1920s ex-con trying to lead a decent life, and his relationships with a tender-hearted call girl and a charismatic criminal; 1929 — my essay on the novel and Fassbinder's film version |
Douglas, Norman |
South Wind |
Island paradise, philosophical debates; 1917 |
Flaubert, Gustave |
Sentimental Education |
Ultimate novel of romantic frustration; 1869 |
Forster, E.M. |
Intertwined fates of two unforgettable English families; 1910 |
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Forster, E.M. |
Maurice |
Young man challenges social, and personal, prejudice to find love; 1913 |
"Frederics, Diana" |
Diana: A Strange Autobiography |
Real author still unknown in this novel about a lesbian searching for fulfillment; 1939 |
Fuller, Henry Blake |
Eligible bachelor pursued by both sexes; 1919 |
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Genet, Jean |
Our Lady of the Flowers |
Hallucinatory masterpiece about crime and sainthood; 1942 |
Genet, Jean |
The Thief's Journal |
Picaresque autobiographical novel; 1949 |
Gide, André |
The Counterfeiters |
Intriguing infidelities in two families; 1926 |
Goytisolo, Juan |
Marks of Identity |
Life in aftermath of Spanish Civil War; 1966 |
Hall, Radclyffe |
The Well of Loneliness |
Lesbian couple struggles for acceptance; 1928 |
Hartley, L.P. |
The Go-Between |
A young boy passes love letters between an aristocratic woman and a farmer, with unexpected consequences; 1953 |
Highsmith, Patricia |
The Price of Salt |
Young woman and a married mother fall in love; 1952 |
Himes, Chester |
Yesterday Will Make You Cry |
Life and love in 1930s Southern prison (unexpurgated ed.; orig. pub. as Cast the First Stone); 1955 |
Huysmans, Joris-Karl |
French Decadent classic, inspired Wilde; 1884 |
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Isherwood, Christopher |
Berlin Stories |
Autobiographical tales of a gay Briton in pre-WW II Germany; 1939 |
Isherwood, Christopher |
A Single Man |
Masterpiece about one day in the life of a gay Brtish professor in L.A.; 1964 |
James, Henry |
Suffragists face many difficult choices; 1886 |
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Jewett, Sarah Orne |
Subtle stories about a young woman's summer at a coastal Maine town; 1896 |
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Kerouac, Jack |
The Subterraneans |
"Cleaned up" version of the author's affair with Gore Vidal; 1958 |
Kipling, Rudyard |
In India, orphaned son of an Irish soldier grows up on the mean streets of Lahore, then turns to spying for the Raj; 1901 |
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Kuzmin, Mikhail |
Wings |
Astonishing Russian coming out novel; 1906! |
| Lagerlöf, Selma | The Story of Gösta Berling (aka Gösta Berling's Saga) | A dashing young cavalier's adventures, both realistic and supernatural, in 1820s Sweden; 1891 — first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature |
Larsen, Nella |
Passing |
Black women confront racism and passion; 1929 |
Lawrence, D.H. |
Complex, ambivalent gay content; 1920 |
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Lezama Lima, Jose |
Paradiso |
Cuban mix of memoir, fiction, poetry; 1966 |
Mann, Klaus |
Pathetic Symphony |
On Tchaikovsky, by Thomas Mann's son; 1935 |
Mann, Thomas |
Tonio Kröger |
Latent homosexual artist comes of age; 1903 |
Mann, Thomas |
Death in Venice |
Author destroyed by obsession for boy; 1912 |
Mansfield, Katherine |
Subtle, penetrating fiction from New Zealand author, incl. In a German Pension, 1911; Bliss, 1920; Garden Party, 1922 |
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Maugham, Somerset |
Stockbroker flees to Tahiti to paint; 1919 |
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McCullers, Carson |
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter |
Southern Gothic tale of love and loneliness in a small town; 1940 |
McCullers, Carson |
The Member of the Wedding |
Tomboy wants to fit in yet be herself; 1946 |
Meeker, Ralph |
Better Angel |
A young man's sexual awakening; 1933 |
Melville, Herman |
Life, and love, on doomed whaling ship; 1851 |
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Melville, Herman |
Beautiful sailor and his sadistic nemesis; 1891 |
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Miller, Isabel |
Patience and Sarah |
Based on historical 19th c. 'married' couple; 1967 |
Mishima, Yukio |
Confessions of a Mask |
Sinister coming out novel from Japan; 1949 |
| Montherlant, Henry de | The Bachelors | Poignant tale of two formerly aristocratic bachelors, an elderly uncle and his nephew, now living in squalor; 1934 |
Murdoch, Iris |
The Bell |
Superb comedy/drama about a closeted gay man who founds a utopian lay religious community; 1958 |
Musil, Robert |
Young Törless |
Sadism at a German boarding school; 1906 |
Nabokov, Vladimir |
Pale Fire |
A novel in the form of revealing footnotes to a poem; 1962 |
| Nafzawi, Shaykh Umar ibn Muhammad | Glory of the Perfumed Garden: The Missing Flowers | Homoerotic sections of the medieval Arabic book that were suppressed in the famous 1886 translation by Richard Burton; orig. circa 1200, published 1975 |
Pater, Walter |
Passionate friendships during the era of Emperor Marcus Aurelius; 1885 |
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Proust, Marcel |
Remembrance of Things Past |
Sprawling, evocative Modernist classic about memory and desire; 1922 |
Rechy, John |
City of Night |
Young hustler plies his trade across the entire USA; 1963 |
Renault, Mary |
The Last of the Wine |
Relationship of two young Athenians during Peloponnesian War (Renault's first novel set in the ancient world); 1956 |
Richardson, Dorothy |
Pilgrimage |
First stream of consciousness novel; lesbian author's autobiographical fiction – the full-length section entitled Pointed Roofs is available free online; 1915–1938 |
Richardson, Henry Handel |
Australian lesbian author’s coming of age tale set at a girl’s boarding school; 1910 |
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Rule, Jane |
Desert of the Heart |
Groundbreaking novel of a lesbian relationship, set in 1950s Nevada; 1964 |
Saba, Umberto |
Ernesto |
Italian bisexual comes of age; 1953 |
Saikaku, Ihara |
Great Mirror of Male Love |
Courtly, misogynistic stories from Japan; 1684 |
Sand, George (Amantine-Aurore-Lucile Dupin) |
Lélia |
A woman comes to question traditional views on men, love, and religion; 1833 |
Scott, Sarah |
Millenium Hall |
"Happily unmarried" women friends; 1762 |
Somerville, Edith & Violet Martin |
The Real Charlotte |
Intense relationship of two cousins; often considered the finest 19th c. Irish novel; 1894 |
Staël, Madame de |
Corinne; or Italy |
Romantic tragedy of an Italian woman of genius and a noble Englishman; 1807 |
Stein, Gertrude |
Powerful novellas about three working class women; 1909 |
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Stein, Gertrude |
Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas |
Stein writes her own lover's autobiography; 1933 |
Stevenson, Edward Prime- |
Imre |
First openly gay American novel (published under pseudonym "Xavier Mayne"); 1906 |
Taylor, Bayard |
Two young men seek happiness together; 1870 |
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Taylor, Valerie |
The Girls in 3-B |
Representative and fun lesbian pulp novel, about three young working women sharing a Chicago apartment; 1959 |
| al-Tifashi, Ahmad | The Delight of Hearts | Homoerotic poetry and stories from the Arabic Middle Ages; circa 1250 |
Vidal, Gore |
The City and the Pillar |
Gay man desperate to rekindle first love; 1948 |
Vidal, Gore |
Julian |
Epic, and witty, recreation of the life of Emperor Julian (331–363 A.D.) who tried to restore Classical civilization to the Roman Empire which was being taken over by Christian zealots (who branded him "Julian the Apostate"); 1964 |
Vogel, Bruno |
Alf |
Two German boys in love pre-WW I; 1929 |
Walpole, Hugh |
Herries Chronicles |
Series of four best-selling historical novels set in 18th century Britain: Rogue Herries, Judith Paris, The Fortress, and Vanessa (1930) |
Waugh, Evelyn |
Brideshead Revisited |
Two former lovers come to lead very different lives; 1945 |
Weirauch, Anna |
The Scorpion |
Landmark German lesbian novel; 1919 |
Welch, Denton |
In Youth is Pleasure |
Coming of age tale by paraplegic author; 1945 |
Wilde, Oscar |
About Shakespeare's young lover – or is it?; 1889 |
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Wilder, Thornton |
Heaven's My Destination |
Exploits of a "holy fool" traveling salesman; 1935 |
Wilhelm, Gale |
Torchlight in Valhalla |
Daughter of a famous painter is torn between her love for a man and a young woman; 1938 |
Wilson, Angus |
Hemlock and After |
Gay writer's problems with wife and lover; 1952 |
Wister, Owen |
This archetypal novel of the Old West is rich in homoerotic subtext; 1901 |
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Woolf, Virginia |
Mrs. Dalloway |
Repressed hostess contemplates her life; 1925 |
Woolf, Virginia |
To the Lighthouse |
Two days, 10 years apart, in a family's life; 1927 |
Yourcenar, Marguerite |
Memoirs of Hadrian |
Great Roman Emperor's quest for truth, and love for a Greek youth; 1951 |
Yourcenar, Marguerite |
The Abyss |
Gay pre-Renaissance alchemist Zeno; 1968 |
| || Contemporary | Pre-Stonewall | Fun Stuff | Genres | Drama | Poetry | Non-Fiction || More Lists |
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Aretino, Pietro |
The Stablemaster |
Play – a gay servant tries to avoid marrying; 1533 |
Aristophanes |
Play – women use a "sex strike" to force their men to end war; 411 BCE |
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Benson, E.F. |
Make Way for Lucia |
Collects the seven Lucia & Mapp novels; 1920 |
Boyd, Blanche McCrary |
Terminal Velocity |
Southern belle joins '70s lesbian commune, falls in love with fugitive, goes on the lam; 1998 |
Coward, Noel |
Design for Living |
Play – sparklingly witty menage a trois; 1933 |
Dennis, Patrick (pseudonym of Edward Everett Tanner III) |
Auntie Mame |
Hilarious, crypto-gay original novel; 1955 |
Firbank, Ronald |
The Eccentricities of Cardinal Pirelli |
Flamboyant satire about the Church of England; 1926 |
Finn, William |
Falsettos |
Musical Play – a married man comes out, and must deal with the many consequences; 1992 |
Fitzhugh, Louise |
Harriet the Spy |
Young girl's secret journal, saying exactly what she thinks about everyone, is revealed – yikes!; 1964 |
Gogol, Nikolai |
The Inspector General |
Play – corrupt small-town officials tricked by a con man; 1836 |
Hamburger, Aaron |
Faith For Beginners |
Funny and moving experiences of a Michigan family on a tour of modern Israel; 2005 |
Hart, Moss & George S. Kaufman |
You Can't Take It With You |
Play – a family of lovable eccentrics (Hart was gay/bi); 1937 |
Jarry, Alfred |
King Ubu |
Play – about an insane monarch; the work which began Theatre of the Absurd and helped define Surrealism art; 1896 |
Kramer, Larry |
Faggots |
Still controversial, and very funny, satire; 1978 |
Lefcourt, Peter |
The Dreyfus Affair |
Love affair in major league baseball; 1992 |
Ludlam, Charles |
The Mystery of Irma Vep |
Play – hilarious sendup of Victorian melodrama; 1984 |
Manrique, Jaime |
Latin Moon in Manhattan |
Wild adventures of gay Colombian immigrant living in NYC; 1992 |
McCourt, James |
Mawrdew Czgowchwz |
Title character (pronounced "Mardu Gorgeous"), the opera world's latest diva, fends off fans and rivals galore; 1971 |
McNally, Terrence |
The Ritz |
Play – set in a bath house, with mobsters and drag queens; 1974 |
Merrick, Gordon |
The Lord Won't Mind |
Classic gay soap opera; 1970 |
Mordden, Ethan |
I've a Feeling We're Not in Kansas Anymore |
First in a series of interconnected stories about the foibles of NYC gay life; 1983 |
Orton, Joe |
What the Butler Saw |
Play – Outrageous satire on British society; 1967 |
Petronius |
Picaresque adventures of two randy young men, by Nero's "Arbiter of Elegance," may be the world's first novel; 66 AD |
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Purdy, James |
Malcolm |
Satirical adventures of a young man of "exceptional beauty"; 1959 |
Ravel, Maurice (composer) & Colette (author) |
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges |
Opera – a spoiled brat finds the animals and objects he's been abusing come to life; 1925 |
Rodi, Robert |
Closet Case |
Just you trying staying in that closet!; 1994 |
Rolfe, Frederick William |
Hadrian the Seventh |
Expelled seminarian becomes Pope; 1904 |
Rudnick, Paul |
Jeffrey |
Play – Wry, romantic comedy set in the AIDS era; 1994 |
Schulman, Sarah |
Empathy |
Comic look at psychoanalysis and lesbian identity; 1992 |
Sedaris, David |
Barrel Fever |
Manic, hilarious pitch-black satires; 1994 |
Shakespeare |
Play – with gender disguise, romantic entanglements, slapstick, poetry, much more; 1598 |
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Silver, Nicky |
Pterodactyls |
Play – caustically funny look at a picture-perfect family; 1994 |
Stein, Eugene |
Straitjacket & Tie |
Young man's problems with coming out, a really boring job, and extra-terrestrials; 1996 |
Toole, John Kennedy |
A Confederacy of Dunces |
Raucous, tragicomic adventures of an ill-fated medievalist from New Orleans; 1966 (pub. posthumously in 1976) |
Vidal, Gore |
Myra Breckinridge |
Mordant view of sex, movies & society; 1968 |
Wilde, Oscar |
Play – Maybe the funniest comedy ever written, even as it dissects the meaning of identity; 1895 |
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Wilder, Thornton |
The Skin of Our Teeth |
Play – surreal farce has the same characters appear in wildly different historical periods; 1942 |
| Williamson, L.R. | Prairie Springs | A young woman and her gay best friend move from Manhattan to a zany little Texas town — very funny and very moving; more at L.R. Williamson's site; 2007 |
Wilmot, John (Earl of Rochester) |
Sodom: The Quintessence of Debauchery |
Play – Infamous satire in which a king mandates "buggery" for his subjects; 1675? |
Wilson, Doric |
Play – comic look at pre-Stonewall gay street life; 1969 |
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| || Contemporary | Pre-Stonewall | Fun Stuff | Genres | Drama | Poetry | Non-Fiction || More Lists |
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Andersen, Hans Christian |
Fantasy – gay author of such beloved, and disturbing, stories as "Princess and the Pea," "Little Mermaid," "Ugly Duckling," "Thumbelina," "Emperor's New Clothes," "Red Shoes," and "Little Match Girl;" 1835 |
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Barker, Clive |
Imajica |
Horror – epic quest with gender-switching assassin; 1991 |
Barrie, James M. |
Fantasy – adventures of a boy who never grows up; 1904 |
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Beckford, William |
Fantasy – a Gothic, Arabian Nights-style adventure; 1786 |
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Bram, Christopher |
Hold Tight |
Suspense – WW II thriller set in a gay NYC brothel; 1988 |
Brite, Poppy Z. |
Drawing Blood |
Horror – two gay boys and many kinds of ghosts; 1993 |
Burroughs, William S |
The Wild Boys |
Science Fiction – gay freedom fighters in fascist near future; 1971 |
Butler, Octavia |
Kindred |
Science Fiction – modern black woman sent back to antebellum South to save her white, slave-owning ancestor; 1979 |
Capote, Truman |
In Cold Blood |
Suspense – "true crime" novel of Midwestern murder; 1966 |
Carter, Angela |
Infernal Desire Machines of Dr. Hoffman |
Science Fiction – gay mad scientist alters the laws of space, time, and reality; 1972 |
Delany, Samuel R. |
Triton |
Science Fiction – intergalactic quest for the Holy Grail; 1976 |
Du Maurier, Daphne |
Rebecca |
Suspense – romantic thriller about the two Mrs. DeWinters, one of whom is dead; 1938 |
Gomez, Jewelle |
Gilda Stories |
Horror – African-American lesbian vampire; 1991 |
Hansen, Joseph |
Fadeout |
Suspense – first book in series about a gay investigator; 1970 |
Harris, Thomas |
Silence of the Lambs |
Suspense – young woman FBI agent needs help of a sociopathic doctor to track a serial killer; 1988 |
Highsmith, Patricia |
Strangers on a Train |
Suspense – gay villain plots "crisscrossed" murders; lesbian author also wrote classic Price of Salt; 1949 |
Jackson, Shirley |
The Haunting of Hill House |
Horror – psychic investigators, at least one a lesbian, explore the ultimate evil haunted house; 1959 |
James, Henry |
Horror – unnerving, multi-layered ghost story; 1898 |
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Kafka, Franz |
Metamorphosis |
Fantasy – terrifying, metaphorical "coming out" story?; 1915 |
Kipling, Rudyard |
The Jungle Book [free online] & The Second Jungle Book [free online] |
Fantastical tales of a boy raised by animals in the forests of India; 1894 & 1895 |
LeFanu, J.S. |
Horror – lesbian vampire and her "victim;" 1872 |
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Lewis, M.G. |
Horror – infamous novel defined Gothic horror; 1795 |
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Lovecraft, H.P. |
Horror – this great horror novella can also be read as a weirdly affirmative coming out story; 1931 |
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Maguire, Gregory |
Wicked |
Fantasy – The Wizard of Oz retold, for adults, from the fascinating perspective of the woman who grows up to become the Wicked Witch of the West; basis for the hit Broadway musical; 1995 |
McHugh, Maureen |
China Mountain Zhang |
Science Fiction – SF adventure with gay Chinese protagonist; 1992 |
Moriarty, Chris |
Spin State |
Science Fiction – Post-human spy thriller featuring a love story between a bi woman and a transgendered artificial intelligence; 2003 |
Nava, Michael |
The Little Death |
Suspense – First in outstanding series about gay Latino attorney; 1986 |
Rice, Anne |
Interview with the Vampire |
Horror – begins series with erotic GLB vampires, replete with mystery, romance, & blood; 1976 |
Russ, Joanna |
The Female Man |
Science Fiction – A woman exists in four parallel worlds; 1975 |
Stoker, Bram |
Horror – genre-defining vampire novel; 1897 |
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Warner, Sylvia T. |
Lolly Willowes |
Fantasy – spinster becomes a feminist witch; 1926 |
Wilde, Oscar |
Horror – terrible price of remaining 'fabulous' forever; 1890 |
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Woolf, Virginia |
Orlando |
Fantasy – s/he lives for centuries, changes genders; 1928 |
GLBT Genre Literature page includes many more titles. |
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Albee, Edward |
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? |
Two married couples strip away each other's illusions; 1963 |
Behn, Aphra |
Adventures of a group of English Cavaliers in Madrid and Naples during the exile of (the future King) Charles II – for 150 years this remained the most often-performed play in the Western world; 1677 |
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Bennett, Alan |
The History Boys |
Boys at elite British school in the '80s are caught between two very different teachers; 2004 |
Blitzstein, Marc |
The Cradle Will Rock |
Opera – political skullduggery in allegorical "Steeltown, USA”; 1936 |
Bowles, Jane Auer |
In the Summer House |
Tangled relationship of a mother and daughter; 1953 |
Brecht, Bertolt |
Baal |
A man's pursuit of pleasure in all of its forms; 1918 |
Britten, Benjamin (composer) & Montagu Slater (author) |
Peter Grimes |
Opera – stunning musical/dramatic masterpiece about an outcast fisherman whose apprentices die mysteriously; 1944 |
Chambers, Jane |
Last Summer at Bluefish Cove |
Impact of a woman's terminal cancer on her lifelong friends and lovers; 1980 |
Cocteau, Jean |
The Infernal Machine |
Magical retelling of Oedipus and Sphinx; 1932 |
Crowley, Mart |
Boys in the Band |
Compendium of gay stereotypes; 1968 |
Cruz, Nilo |
Anna in the Tropics |
Magical realist play about family of Cuban cigar makers in 1930 Florida; gay playwright is first Latino to win Pulitzer for Drama; 2002 |
Durang, Christopher |
The Marriage of Bette and Boo |
Tragi-comedy about a dysfunctional American family; 1973 (revised 1985) |
Edson, Margaret |
Wit |
Feisty literature professor faces death with the aid of John Donne's poetry; lesbian playwright won Pulitzer Prize; 1998 |
Euripides |
The god Dionysus exacts revenge on a puritanical king who refuses to worship him; 405 BC |
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Fierstein, Harvey |
Torch Song Trilogy |
Life of an indomitable drag queen; 1982 |
Genet, Jean |
The Balcony |
Surreal, horrific comedy set in a brothel; 1956 |
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von |
Epic verse drama about a man who sells his soul for ultimate knowledge; with a gay Mephistopheles; 1832 (compare Marlowe's Dr. Faustus; 1588) |
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Greenberg, Richard |
Take Me Out |
Travails of a gay major league baseball player; 2002 |
Hansberry, Lorraine |
A Raisin in the Sun |
Black lesbian playwright's classic about a divided family; 1959 |
Inge, William |
Picnic |
Drifter unsettles a complacent Midwest town; 1953 |
Kelly, George |
Craig's Wife |
A married woman is obsessed with her possessions; 1925 |
Kleist, Heinrich von |
Penthesilea |
Tragedy of Amazons fighting in Trojan War; 1807 |
Kramer, Larry |
The Normal Heart |
Fictionalized account of origins of GMHC – by celebrated author/activist who actually did found the group; 1985 |
Kushner, Tony |
Angels in America |
Epic two-part comedy/drama/fantasy about 1980s America; Part I: Millennium Approaches (1992) and Part II: Perestroika (1994) |
Larson, Jonathan |
Musical – NYC "Bohemian" life today; 1995 |
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Laurents, Arthur, Stephen Sondheim & Leonard Bernstein |
West Side Story |
Musical – update of Romeo and Juliet moved to the mean streets of then-contemporary Manhattan, with one of the greatest scores in theatre history; later a classic film; 1957 |
Marlowe, Christopher |
English king sacrifices all for his lover; 1594. Adapted by Brecht, 1923; filmed by Jarman, 1991 |
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McNally, Terrence |
Love! Valour! Compassion! |
Gay friends sort out their lives on three holiday weekends at a country house; 1995 |
Menotti, Gian-Carlo |
The Consul |
Opera – parable about refugees confronting a faceless bureaucracy; 1950 |
Mussorgsky, Modest |
Boris Godunov |
Opera – musically and dramatically stunning epic about the 16th c. Russian tsar, with libretto and music by Mussorgsky [production photo]; 1862 |
Patrick, Robert |
Untold Decades |
Seven one-acts on gay life throughout the 20th c.; 1988 — At this site's Robert Patrick page, the author has graciously sent links to his original photos of "the birthplace of gay theatre" – Manhattan's Caffe Cino, three of his original plays including his favorite, Michelangelo's Models: An Historical Fantasia In Three Acts, as well as an original poem – Thank you, Mr. Patrick! |
Stoppard,Tom |
The Invention of Love |
Gay British poet A.E. Housman (A Shropshire Lad) looks back on his life in this dream-like play; 1997 |
Van Druten, John |
Bell, Book and Candle |
Romantic fantasy about a contemporary witch who falls in love with a mortal; 1950 |
Webster, John |
Overwhelming tragic masterpiece; ca. 1611 |
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Wilde, Oscar |
Feverish drama of princess's lust for John the Baptist; 1893 (inspired by Flaubert's story "Herodias") |
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Wilder, Thornton |
Our Town |
Some of a small New Hampshire town's secrets; 1938 |
Williams, Emlyn |
About a baby-faced killer, this is one of the most influential thrillers ever written for the stage; 1935 |
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Williams, Tennessee |
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof |
Homosexual loves, past and present; 1955 |
Wilson, Lanford |
The Fifth of July |
Disabled gay Vietnam vet, lover, & family; 1978 |
Wright, Doug |
I Am My Own Wife |
One actor plays many roles in Pulitzer Prize-winning tale of real-life German transvestite who survived both the Nazis and Communists; 2003 |
| || Contemporary | Pre-Stonewall | Fun Stuff | Genres | Drama | Poetry | Non-Fiction || More Lists |
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| || Contemporary | Pre-Stonewall | Fun Stuff | Genres | Drama | Poetry | Non-Fiction || More Lists |
Ancient (before 500 BCE)
Classical (500 BCE – 476 CE)
Medieval (476 – 1453)
18th & 19th Centuries
Early to Mid-20th Century
Contemporary
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Ackerley, J.R. |
My Father & Myself |
Examines his family and British society; 1968 |
Anzaldúa, Gloria |
Borderlands = La Frontera |
US and Mexican cultures, genders, selves; 1987 |
Arenas, Reinaldo |
Before Night Falls |
Memoir of gay life in Cuba before and during Castro regime; 1993 |
Bacon, Francis |
Essays on many topics by the great English philosopher, statesman, jurist, and literary stylist, who also helped originate the scientific method of problem solving; 1625 |
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Bagemihl, Bruce |
Biological Exuberance |
Same-sex traits in the animal world and natural diversity; 1999 |
Barthes, Roland |
S/Z |
Provocative analysis of Balzac's 1830 transgender-themed story Sarrasine [free online]; 1970 |
Bashô, Matsuo |
Beautiful, meditative Japanese travel diary written alternately in prose and poetry; 1694 |
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Boswell, John |
Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality |
Revelatory study of gay people in Western Europe from late Roman Empire to the 14th c.; 1980 |
Butler, Judith P. |
Gender Trouble |
Controversial study argues that gender identity is a fluid variable changing in different contexts; 1990 |
Caesar, Julius |
The extraordinary bisexual Roman general – and later dictator – recounts how he conquered Gaul (later called France); 52 BCE |
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Carpenter, Edward, ed. |
Superb same-sex anthology, from antiquity to Whitman, by gay rights pioneer; 1908 |
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Cixous, Hélène |
The Book of Promethea |
Feminist reinterpretation of myth; 1983 |
Cocteau, Jean |
The White Book (Le Livre Blanc) |
Unique celebration of being gay; 1928 |
Cook, Blanche Wiesen |
Eleanor Roosevelt |
Multi-volume biography of humanitarian, and bi, First Lady; 1993 |
Crompton, Louis |
Byron and Greek Love |
Homophobia in 19th c. England; 1985 |
Doty, Mark |
Heaven's Coast |
Memoir of his lover's death from AIDS; 1996 |
Duberman, Martin |
Stonewall |
Lives of six people who participated; 1993 |
Duberman, Martin; et al. |
Hidden from History |
Fascinating essays on GLBTs throughout both world and US history; 1990 |
Eliot, T.S. |
Selected Essays |
Eliot's theories about literature are as influential as his poetry; 1951 |
Ellmann, Richard |
Oscar Wilde |
Definitive biography, and cultural history; 1988 |
Faderman, Lillian |
Surpassing the Love of Men |
Female romantic friendship, and lesbian life, from the Renaissance to the present; 1981 |
Faderman, Lillian |
Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers |
Lesbian life in 20th c. America; 1991 |
Fischer, Erica |
Aimee & Jaguar: A Love Story |
In 1943 Berlin, a Nazi's wife and a fugitive Jewish woman fall in love; 1998 |
Foster, Jeanette Howard |
Sex Variant Women in Literature |
Landmark study of lesbian, bi and trans women in over 300 literary works, from Sappho to the 1950s; 1956 |
Foucault, Michel |
History of Sexuality |
On the fluid nature of human desire; 1976 |
Frank, Anne |
Diary of a Young Girl (complete ed.) |
Uncensored text includes Anne's same-sex feelings; 1997 (ed. O. Frank & M. Pressler) |
Isay, Richard A. |
Being Homosexual & Becoming Gay |
Two books by insightful gay psychotherapist; 1989 |
Isherwood, Christopher |
Christopher and His Kind: 1929–1939 |
His memoir of experiences before emigrating to the United States; 1976 |
Johnston, Jill |
Lesbian Nation |
Classic about lesbian/feminist identity, written in experimental style; 1973 |
Katz, Jonathan Ned |
Gay American History |
400 years of GLBTs in America, revealed through original historical documents; 1976 |
Koestenbaum, Wayne |
The Queen's Throat |
Study of opera, homosexuality and "the mystery of desire;" 1993 |
Lawrence, D.H. |
Still-provocative exploration of U.S. literary history, from colonial works through canonical 19th c. authors (many of whom were GLB); 1923 |
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Lawrence, T.E. |
Seven Pillars of Wisdom |
Memoir by "Lawrence of Arabia;" 1926 |
Leduc, Violette |
La Batarde |
Passionate, stylistically original autobiography; 1964 |
Lister, Anne |
Journal |
19th c. lesbian explores her true self; d. 1840 |
Lorde, Audre |
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name |
African-American "biomythography;" 1982 |
Lovecraft, H.P. |
Landmark study of the genre by perhaps the greatest horror author of all time; 1927 |
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Mann, William J. |
Behind the Screen |
Landmark history of how gay men and lesbians shaped Hollywood between 1910 and 1969; 2001 |
Marcuse, Herbert |
Eros and Civilization |
Far-ranging critique of societal repression; 1955 |
Matthiessen, F.O. |
American Renaissance: Art and Expression in the Age of Emerson and Whitman |
Exploration of five mid-19th c. U.S. authors (Whitman, Melville, Thoreau – and possibly Hawthorne – were gay/bi), created the field of American Studies; 1941 |
McCourt, James |
Queer Street |
Part memoir, part phantasmagoria – imaginative history of gay life 1947–1985 which "channels" T.S. Eliot, James Baldwin, Truman Capote and Gore Vidal; 2003 |
Mead, Margaret |
Coming of Age in Samoa |
Landmark study of adolescence and sexual behavior in "primitive" cultures; 1928 |
Miller, Neil |
In Search of Gay America |
GLBTs from across the USA, in farmlands, small towns, suburbs, & cities; 1989 |
Monette, Paul |
Becoming a Man |
Searing memoir of how the author came out, and finally learned to love; 1992 |
Mordden, Ethan |
Broadway Babies: The People Who Made the American Musical |
Toe-tapping introduction to the history of the Broadway musical – Mordden has also written a decade-by-decade history of musicals from the 1920s to today; 1988 |
Murray, Stephen O. & Will Roscoe |
Boy-Wives and Female Husbands: Studies in African Homosexualities [my review] |
Groundbreaking collection of anthropological, historical, and sociopolitical studies focused on same-sex relationships in Africa, including woman–woman marriages, alternative gender identities, GLBTs in modern African societies and literature, more; 2001 |
Nicolson, Nigel |
Portrait of a Marriage |
Revealing portrayal of the politician author's bisexual mother Vita Sackville West (book includes her Diary), and bisexual father; 1973 |
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm |
Believed the ideal human could direct passions creatively instead of suppressing them; 1883 |
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Nin, Anaïs |
Henry and June |
Nin's relationship with author Henry Miller and his wife in 1931/32, culled from uncensored version of her sprawling memoirs; 1986 |
Packard, Chris |
Illuminating study of same-sex relationships in the nineteenth century American frontier, drawing on literary, non-fiction, and visual sources; 2005 |
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Pater, Walter |
Groundbreaking study of art and poetry, also introduced influential "Art for Art's sake" concepts of Aestheticism and Decadence; 1873 |
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Plato |
Socrates & co. drink wine and discuss love; 350 BC (compare Xenophon's Symposium) |
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Plutarch |
Incl. gay leaders Lycurgus, Solon, Agesilaus, Alexander the Great, Pelopidas (Sacred Band of Thebes); 100 AD |
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Russo, Vito |
Celluloid Closet |
GLBTs in Hollywood on- and off-screen; 1981 |
Santayana, George |
The Life of Reason |
The importance, and pleasure, of enlightened instinct – by the gay Spanish-American philosopher, poet, novelist, and critic; 1905 |
Sarton, May |
Journal of a Solitude |
Joy and fear of living alone; 1977 |
Saslow, James M. |
Pictures & Passions |
History of homosexuality in the visual arts; 1999 |
Sedgwick, Eve |
Between Men |
English Literature and same-sex desire; 1985 |
Shilts, Randy |
Conduct Unbecoming |
Epic history of GLBs in the military; 1993 |
Sontag, Susan |
AIDS & Its Metaphors |
On cultural mythologies surrounding AIDS; a complement to Illness as Metaphor; 1989 |
Stoddard, Charles Warren |
Subtly homoerotic adventures in Polynesia; 1873 |
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Strachey, Lytton |
This first "camp" biography skewers the hypocrisies of Victorian England; 1918 |
|
Summers, Claude J., ed. |
Gay and Lesbian Literary Heritage |
Indispensable! 350 entries on GLBT authors, genres, & national literatures; 1995 — its contents are also available online at glbtq.com |
Symonds, John Addington |
By a pioneer in same-sex rights, this is also the first gay male autobiography; 1893 |
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Thoreau, Henry David |
Provocative meditations on nature, society, and personal freedom; 1854 |
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Thucydides |
Long, bloody war between Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta (first great work of History); 431 BC |
|
Tripp, C.A. |
The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln |
Controversial biography explores, and documents, Lincoln's bisexuality; 2004 |
Vanita, Ruth & Saleem Kidwai |
Same-Sex Love in India |
Readings spanning 2,000 years from literature and history, representing Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, and modern traditions; 2000 |
Whitman, Walt |
The great poet's visionary autobiography; 1882 |
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Wilde, Oscar |
Major essays, incl. "Critic as Artist;" 1891 |
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Williams, Walter L. |
Spirit and the Flesh |
Native American same-sex traditions; 1986 |
Woolf, Virginia |
A Room of One's Own |
Landmark essay on women, art, and society; 1929 |
| || Contemporary | Pre-Stonewall | Fun Stuff | Genres | Drama | Poetry | Non-Fiction || More Lists |
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More "Best GLBT Books" Resources
The single best resource for GLBT literature, and cultural history, is the comprehensive glbtq.com. It includes the complete contents of Claude J. Summers's landmark Gay and Lesbian Literary Heritage, and 2,000 articles, written by scholars for a wide audience, on books, theatre, film, the visual arts, music, history, law, philosophy, the sciences and much more.
At the GLBT Literature Resources page, you'll find annotated links to anthologies, which are de facto "best" lists, including Ioläus [free online] (edited by Edward Carpenter in 1908, this is the first collection of same-sex literature), plus all of the "best GLBT books" lists that I've found, including awards and readers' sites. (Among other items, there are both the Publishing Triangle's "100 Best" lists for GLBT Novels and Non-Fiction, along with my supplements of 50 Overlooked GLBT Fiction Authors and 100 Overlooked GLBT Non-Fiction Authors.)
Site search
This search engine covers the entire website (GLBT literature, film, and all other pages) — results will open in a new window. You can also use the site map.