LGBTQ+ LITERATURE
Reading Gay Secondhand Books — Unique Legacies for New Generations
Who, I wonder, read this gay novel before me? What did they go through in their own lives? What did this book mean to them?
Cruising for Books
I collect gay fiction, but I don’t consider myself a serious collector. I collect new books but also used or secondhand books. I don’t need them to be first editions. It doesn’t have to have a dust jacket. It doesn’t even need to be in good shape, as long as I can still read it.
A surprising amount of gay fiction remains out of print. Those that have come back into print are usually available only as trade paperbacks or e-books. I prefer hardcovers if I can get them.
So I go out cruising for books. Old hardcovers are my type.
In New York City, I haunt The Strand. In Los Angeles, it’s The Last Bookstore. You can find me at a Goodwill, or, when I’m in London, an Oxfam charity shop. Then there are local library sales.
Online purchases from AbeBooks are fine, but buying online takes the thrill out of discovery. In a bookstore, you can stumble across things.
