LGBTQ+ BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

4 Brilliant Gay Novels by 3 Authors Who Left Us Too Soon 🌈

HIV/AIDS ended the lives of these talented writers, but it didn’t stop them from giving us some astonishingly fierce novels first

Four novels: ‘A Matter of Life and Sex’ by Oscar Moore; ‘Eighty-Sixed’ and ‘Spontaneous Combustion’ by David B. Feinberg; and ‘Tim and Pete’ by James Robert Baker. (Photo copyright © 2024 by John Peyton Cooke)

All of the novels I’m writing about here are by authors we lost to HIV/AIDS. If you’re a reader of LGBTQ+ literature, you may be saying to yourself, “Why did he leave out so-and-so?” The answer is, too many writers were lost. One could write a book about them. I’ll add more in future lists.

Today what’s on my mind are four books by these three authors:

• Oscar Moore (1960–1996)
• David B. Feinberg (1956–1994)
• James Robert Baker (1946–1997)

I’ve previously written about The Boys on the Rock, by John Fox (1952–1990), and collecting the work of Robert Ferro (1941–1988). Both also died from HIV/AIDS. Fox’s The Boys on the Rock and Ferro’s Second Son belong on this list. I’ll revisit Second Son in the future. There are so many others.

The four novels below are each set in different recognizable centers of gay life — London, New York City, and Los Angeles. Urban experiences, yes, but different vibes. The mood of each…