Mapping the Territory

Over a thirty-year period, novelist Christopher Bram witnessed, and lived through, the powerful experiences of coming out, the AIDS epidemic, gay marriage, and the social changes that have occurred in lower Manhattan. From the title piece, which maps the state of gay fiction, to “A Body in Books,” about the gay books that changed the author’s life, the essays in Mapping the Territory form a coherent autobiographical account of Bram’s life. This work wouldn’t be complete without “Homage to Mr. Jimmy,” his account of how his novel Father of Frankenstein grew from his imagination and writing into the Oscar-winning movie Gods and Monsters. Mapping the Territory is a thoroughly engaging and compelling look into a great American writer.