Better Angel: A Novel

Most gratifying about Meeker's novel is its completely positive view of homosexuality. The author gives equal weight to the physical and the emotional aspects of being gay. His protagonist is initially driven by his erotic impulses, but behind the impulses there is always the emotional core. After some questioning and experimentation, Meeker's hero is never in real doubt about the possibility of same-sex love. There is no trace of shame or guilt in the novel's depictions of male-to-male relations: the reader is convinced along with him, that this love,too, is valid.

There is plenty of humor in the novel, as well as some interesting non-technical musical discussion. And Meeker is careful to characterize each player with subtle and convincing traits. Neither dated, nor only academically important, BETTER ANGEL is a novel that should be read by everyone.


One the best "early" gay novels   February 15, 2002
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

In 1933, using the alias Richard Meeker, Forman Brown published his novel "Better Angel."

A bitterly frank coming of age story, "Better Angel" has become a classic of gay literature, and deservedly so. Like E.M. Forster's "Maurice" (which was written in 1914 but not published until 1971), this novel is a candid examination of a young man's coming to terms with his homosexuality. The kinship between the two extends to the basic optimism inherent in the works, which is both surprising and refreshing. Unlike so many early works which used allusion and insinuation when it came to the sexuality of their characters, these two novels have been rendered openly and without shame. To think that this novel was published decades prior to Gore Vidal's "The City and the Pillar" and James Baldwin's "Giovanni's Room" is truly remarkable.

Beautifully written, with a prose style which equals Forster's, this novel should be read for generations to come.


Unusual Coming Out Story   February 11, 2001
 3 out of 5 found this review helpful

Excellent book.

Unlike many contemporary coming out stories, the gay protagonist here does not get drunk, take drugs, or become suicidal. He just tries to understand his feelings and tries to do the right things. This was set in the Great Depression in 1933, in a religious Mid-Western family setting (initially), with entrapping police, and almost universal hostility. The narrator is able to grow and develop with dignity, while building long-term sexual and other relationships.


History of Gay Fiction...   September 14, 2000
 3 out of 6 found this review helpful

...Ok...I'm recommending this book, even though I am only half way through it. Odd right? Well, the story has finally kicked in and I am completely absorbed in it.

The reason I am writing this review now is because I feel this book is a must for anyone like me who is a lover of gay fiction. This was penned in the early 1930s and apparantly had been lost for some time. The author even published it under another name.

The thing about it is that so far, and I am guessing he wont, the narrator of the story has not said "I'M GAY." Okay, I sound like an activist but I guess that is what I find so fascinating about the book.

The narrator is learning and discovering his homosexuality from a young boy to becoming a young man. This is his journey for love and a place in the owrld, Ican relate.

But what I find so intriguing is that he can never say "I'm Gay." it is always described as feelings about another man. He even uses the classic phrase "the love that shall not speak its name."

This is definitely a book of its time. No writer writes like this anymore and th characters speech is so over the top it is frightening at times.

However, this is one of the first books written about gay love and the search for acceptance. Without it, authors like Jim Grimsley, Patrica Nell Warren and more could never have had the success they now enjoy so deservedly.

Pick it up, you will be glad you did!