Big Gay Read

The results of the Big Gay Read, a "campaign to discover the nation's favourite lesbian/gay [sic] novel" were announced this May, with thousands of titles having received votes.

Feature by Nine | 15 Jul 2006

It should be no surprise that Armistead Maupin's 'Tales of the City' came out on top: since its original publication in the San Francisco Chronicle thirty years ago, his stories of adventure, scandal, love and loss, told with a genuine affection for his characters, have enchanted audiences of all persuasions.

For many LGBT people, books have been their first opportunity to discover that they are not alone, and often mark the beginning of the coming-out process. Over time, queer literature – like queer cinema – has evolved from the early protagonists who taught us we could look forward to a miserable, isolated existence, through more uplifting happy endings, to modern-day novels which, for better or worse, portray LGBT lives, with their trials and tribulations, as being pretty much just like everyone else's. The remainder of the top ten (actually a top fifteen, due to a number of ties) include some obvious classics, and, as the website says, these books have "entertained, educated and literally saved lives." In this month's issue, we take a look at some of the Big Gay Read's winning titles – many of which have remained popular for decades.

http://www.biggayread.com