Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys: True Tales of Love, Lust, and Friendship Between Straight Women and Gay Men
Surely every gay man has at least one: a fag hag, a female best friend. I know I’ve had my share over the years: a loyal, devoted friend, a confidante and confessor, a steady constant in my life amid my struggles, my tantrums, my hopes, my dreams. And now a new book, Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys, celebrates the unique bond between gay men and straight women with a series of essays that are at times inspirational and heartbreaking, sobering and funny.
Editors and best friends Melissa de la Cruz and Tom Dolby have assembled over two-dozen essays by talented scribes such as Simon Doonan (creative director of Barneys New York), Abigail Garner (author of Families Like Mine: Children of Gay Parents Tell It Like It Is), and Village Voice columnist Michael Musto. And what a collection of essays it is: tales of a mother coming to terms with her son’s sexuality, a woman bearing a child for her old high school boyfriend and his partner, and friendships crumbling and thriving amid the disclosure or concealment of sexuality.
Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys features five sections about this special relationship, including friendships first nurtured in the formative years, group and one-on-one friendships, and friendships complicated by lust and love and sex. There are some real treasures in this collection, but, by far, the most powerful essays are those that appear in the last two sections: tales of growing up and coming out, and of the relationships between gay men and their parents or children. The essays in these sections make for powerful, thought-provoking reading. Unfortunately, these essays make the earlier ones in the book, albeit well written and touching or funny or sad, seem mediocre. Don’t get me wrong: each essay is masterful, but many of the earlier ones seem too similar, ultimately blurring together so that few stand out or carry much resonance.
Nonetheless, Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys is an outstanding addition to the literary spectrum, shedding light on a bond that the queers of this world, and their loyal femme soul mates, have had the incredible fortune to experience. So why not curl up with your best gal pal and have a read? You won’t regret it.
by Melissa de la Cruz and Tom Dolby
For more information about the book, its contributors, and the authors’ tour, visit www.girlswholikeboys.com.
Dutton Adult, 320 pages, $24.95
