REVIEW
(Urnttnucd I>vm Page l>.-\
final cut and was going to be
published in Mon <;>t Mar 5 Rut
the book wouldn't tie out unt-i
October 1994
Finally two years after b* ng
suberutted. 'To. let Training' s in
pr n| And Mon . Men 5 s
receiving its own attention The
book is ranked second on the
The Advocates Nov 15 iss-.ie's
best ■ c' >st " the Men'ate
gory it's been reviewed in the
November issue of Out maga
zine and in the
November,l>fcember .ssue of
Lambda Book Report
This is the fifth edition o! the
Men on Men series And
VV'iiemr, has seen ■.,■,)>• '
the way each anthology has
been presented
'It was started with the goal of
being an anthology that wasn't
pornography or overly literate.
Williams said
it was also the first collection
of contemporary gay fiction
Williams believes the content
and the covers of the first tour
books were meant to advance
the cause, but Men on Men 5 is
different It takes a took at h e
r^ai ties of the gay 'esty e
"Gay fiction writing and gay
culture is going m a new direc
tion that's a little scary." Williams
said, "it s beyond orientation
This is how ‘Toilet Training"
reads I was never quite sure of
exactly what the sexual orienta
tion of any of the characters
was But that's the way Williams
wanted it
"The issue of sexual orienta
tion is secondary.’ Williams said
And after you get into "Toilet
Training" you |US! don’t care
about what the orientation is
The story is much more interest
ing
The story focuses on Dave
and Nikki, and a kid named
Branch ‘Toilet Training* is
about these three "street youths
learning how to survive and try
ing to move away from Eugene
and up to Portland
The story is set in the rose gar
dens near the bike paths along
the Willamette River And what a
story I felt a little naive as l read
it
'Tow Training’ censers on the
bathrooms in the rose ga'den
and «v that happens in Jwn
What happens i* hard to mag
■no, but does Wsf; am said, bap
Don Maybe no? speof'C a y m
Eugene, but it does happen
Whams' story s pad o* a iarg
e» wok t! is the beginning ot
The Acne ot XTC which
VV «ams is Currently working on
Eventually. w .imj hopes to
create a three pan senes He
has a M outline ot the second
book, tentat.vety named The
Naked and the Wed, and
enough ideas to Outline a third,
whch may be tilted The Scum
Also Rises
Williams said that there are
‘stones that need to tie tokJ.
and that is where he gets nm
ideas T nere is so muc h that
needs to be documented,' he
said
But Williams has received
some bad reviews lor 'Toilet
Training * Williams believes
there is a Philadelphia mentality
in gay literature right now
Everything is supposed to be
portrayed as OK and that love
will preva ' he said
But W'ii;ams writes m a more
ambiguous light because that s
the reality
The story i$ a little tty with the
public's response because it's
obnoxious." tte said 'It doesn't
particularly portray the gay/bi
culture m a positive tight ’
The bi/gay culture expects an
open response from the straight
culture, but refuses to show the
whole story. Wiliams sa d
Instead, this unreal, “love will
save us' image is shown
'I sod of consciously write
against the notion ot love con
quering ail and it being able to
solve all the problems." Williams
said
But Williams does have his
own set of themes, which he
tries to keep down to earth
"l guess the theme is straight
is great, gay is great, bi is espe
cially great," he said ‘The unify
ing principle of an sexual orien
tation m not love it's cheesi
ness “
For Williams, writing is some
thing he does tor himself
"I'm not trying to shock," he
said 'I want to show people
what's going on'
Fortune Inn
Chinese restaurant
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