cover image Fidelities

Fidelities

Richard Hall. Viking Books, $21 (288pp) ISBN 978-0-670-83785-4

Hall, author of the novel Family Fictions , adroitly explores many kinds of fidelities--to oneself, to one's companions, to the truth--in this beautifully controlled, arresting collection. His 14 insightful tales revolve around gay characters, generally over 40, but there the similarities end. In a fluid diversity of styles, Hall evokes vivid emotions, often called up from a buried past or a submerged consciousness. These emotional responses are so recognizable that observations about a character in one story can often apply to characters from another, as can the pungent aphorisms that punctuate these narratives. His diverse voices are consistently on target, from the pianist ``lost on the obstacle course to fame'' (``A Faustian Bargain'') who exchanges his longings for men for an uneasy security, to the protagonist of ``Manhattan Transfer'' who, losing his lover to AIDS, believes that he has lost himself. In the especially atmospheric ``Country People,'' a retired teacher conducts an adult gay literature course and awakens--in a unique sense--eight kindred spirits. A celebrated African American writer not unlike James Baldwin, recalling his life and career in ``The Language Animal,'' declares ``there was never any other way.'' He might well be speaking for all of these keenly observed protagonists, each seeking his own constancy. (June)