Old and young gay

Felsenthal notes that, unlike heterosexual intergenerational couples, which may be met with skepticism but some acceptance, gay intergenerational couples often face harsh scrutiny. To tears and confessions and reassurances, of course, but the journey in all of Gambone’s stories is full of both predictable outcomes and startling surprises.

There’s a fair amount of gay male sex, too, some of it explicit, and if that’s a red flag for you as a reader, then Zigzag may not be easy to take.

Our goal is to help others feel less isolated and encourage open communication and support among those in similar situations.

 

Feel free to explore various topics below about finding an older or younger partner, navigating age gap relationships, and much more. But Gambone’s thrust is the present. People often ask, “What will you do if he gets sick?”—a question Felsenthal finds both insulting and absurd.

He recounts his early experiences at a bar where older men gathered, noting how these men, far from seeking validation, simply wanted to enjoy life without the pressure to conform to youthful ideals. Then there’s the HR counselor Alan, in “Human Resources,” who lives in a bungalow in Mattapan with another single gay roommate in his 60s.

Zigzag is his second short-story collection (after The Language We Use Up Here), and he has also written a novel (Beijing) and some notable nonfiction: Something Inside: Conversations with Gay Fiction Writers;Travels in a Gay Nation: Portraits of LGBTQ Americans; and a remarkable memoir, As Far as I Can Tell: Finding My Father in World War II, which I reviewed in the Provincetown Independent in 2021.

Accusations of exploitation or ulterior motives surface frequently. Their regrets, yearnings, fears, and satisfactions are unique, because each person’s experience growing up with the shame of being queer and, as an adult, navigating the pitfalls of sexuality and romance, shapes the individual’s worldview in old age.

Which brings me to Zigzag, Philip Gambone’s marvelous new short story collection about aging gay men in the Boston area, particularly white men who spent their formative years in the South End.

The book makes it clear that personal liberation is a lifelong and universal pursuit.

Such wisdom might seem obvious, and it may elicit an unsympathetic “tut-tut” by those fed up with white male privilege. Mason is in the closet, having been married to a lesbian for 44 years and faithful — emotionally, at least — till her death. The effect is interesting but not climactic.

But what’s erotic in the book is not gratuitous, and Gambone is never vulgar in spirit. Society at large often misinterprets relationships between younger and older individuals, especially when they involve men. “Zigzag,” the titular final story, corrals characters from several other stories in the book into an art gallery opening reception in Dorchester.

For Felsenthal, age isn’t a barrier to love; rather, it enhances it.

Yet, the stigmatization is not limited to within the gay community. Though much of gay life after Stonewall is defined by sexual liberation, Gambone is looking for a broader kind of fulfillment.

Indeed, the stories in this collection are tied together by more than just age, orientation, and proximity to the South End.

Religion often comes into play, as does social striving and the effects of gentrification. It reinforces Gambone’s themes and the sense of community among disparate characters, but it also underlines his ambivalence about the right and wrong choices in life. There’s also the letter carrier Sam and his younger husband, Daryl, in “Big Boy,” who encounter a wealthy couple, Monroe and Richard, as they walk through the South End.

Sam and Daryl have an open relationship within certain boundaries, which these new friends end up challenging.

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