A Perfect Scar and Other Stories

by Trebor Healey

Overview

This whimsical, sly, and slightly crazy collection of short stories from award-winning novelist, poet, and songwriter Trebor Healey covers much ground. The range is jaw-dropping: from a Vietnamese gangster with a voracious libido and a small boy troubled by his gay dog to an 1870s hermaphrodite cowboy named Captain Jinx … and then there's the lad who becomes a sex-inspiring satyr, an American Spanish student in Guanajuato seduced by a pair of twins during the Cervantino celebrations, and a housesitting gig that goes terribly awry.

 

There is humor and insight delivered in lyrical, vibratory phrases, and darker more haunting tales as well, often with a thread of Catholic, as well as Mexican culture, involving young men facing untimely death, reflections on aging, family, duty, sacrifice and sibling rivalry – and the fateful and courageous choices we are forced to make in the name of love.

 

Originally published in 2007, this new edition includes a foreword by Peter Dubé (The Headless Man).

 

"Trebor Healey's writing is suffused with the purest emotion, the bravest, funniest tone, and the perfect balance of poetics, daring and charm." — Joy Nicholson, The Tribes of Palos Verdes

"Shows us men and women whose lives have been, or are about to be, forever altered by love ... sharp, empathic, and unforgettable." — Bernard Cooper, The Bill from My Father

"The eleven selections take the reader on far journeys in space and time, from Ireland, the forests of Alaska, and the cobblestone streets of Guanajuato to the streets and saloons of California's post Gold Rush prosperity and San Francisco in the age of AIDS ... pulls the reader in immediately and offers a journey to the distant coasts of emotion." — Robert Ridinger, Speaking for Our Lives

"Trebor Healey is all soul ... The way he stacks sentences vibrates on the page. There's an impressive, experimental range in this short story collection. Trebor Healey uses multiple narrators to bring voice to a variety of human experiences." — Kirk Read, How I Learned to Snap

Product Details

BN ID:	2940167410978
Publisher:	ReQueered Tales
Publication date:	06/20/2023
Sold by:	Draft2Digital
Format:	eBook
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Recipient of The James Duggins Lambda Literary Award for Mid-Career Novelists, Trebor Healey also received the Violet Quill award for his first novel, Through It Came Bright Colors, and the Publishing Triangle's Ferro-Grumley Award in Fiction for both A Horse Named Sorrow and Through It Came Bright Colors. In addition, he has penned the speculative fiction novel, Faun, and a homoerotic poetry collection, Sweet Son of Pan, along with three collections of stories - A Perfect Scar & Other Stories, Eros & Dust and Falling. He co-edited (with Marci Blackman) Beyond Definition: New Writing from Gay and Lesbian San Francisco, and co-edited (with Amie Evans) Queer & Catholic.

Peter Dubé is the author, co-author or editor of a dozen books of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. His most recent work, The Headless Man, was a finalist for both the A. M. Klein Prize and the ReLit award.

Read an Excerpt

From "A Perfect Scar":

It always begins with cigarettes. I don't even smoke. I don't even respect smoking. I don't think it's cool. As if what I thought would even matter with Tran. Smoking is sexy, yes. But cool, no. Sex isn't really cool, either. I found that out courtesy of Tran. Sexy perhaps, but cool, no. Need is never cool.

It wasn't even about him, really. It rarely is. I got him like religion. Same difference. After all, what's Christianity got to do with Christ? I came up with rationalizations, like all religious types. But in the end, it was about faith. And faith can't be explained. Tran was the man, plain and simple.

What we had in common, in fact, was our religion. And that was it. Catholic Tran. Why is it that so many Catholic cultures breed gangsters like lice? Not that Vietnamese is a Catholic culture any more than I'm a gangster, but I wasn't reared in Belfast, either.

Which didn't prevent me from being a drunk. But let's blame the Irish for that. I was generations removed, and though this tale might whore itself to a handful of stereotypes, they hide as much as they reveal. Homosexuals don't need to be Irish to have drinking problems, that's for sure. But you could say I knew the territory all the same. Had a knack for it.

I could find my way to the corner liquor store blindfolded: At 8 a.m. for a newspaper and a cup of coffee; at noon for a sandwich and a six-pack to get me through the afternoon and lay a foundation for an early evening nap that would prime me for club-hopping by 10, which required one more stop for the requisite pint of Gilbeys or Old Crow.

They say it begins with one drink, blah, blah, blah. Sure thing. It began with a cigarette in this case—and it sure didn't end there. Turning it over? The higher power? Tran was the higher power.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
1. A Perfect Scar
2. Faun
3. A Boy and His Dog
4. Captain Jinx
5. The Mercy Seat
6. Alaska
7. Housesitting
8. Winter Count
9. A California Death
10. The Cervantino Baby
11. Skin and Bone

What People are Saying About This

Joy Nicholson

Trebor Healey's writing is SUFFUSED WITH THE PUREST EMOTION, the bravest, funniest tone, and the perfect balance of poetics, daring, and charm. Reading him is like listening to your smartest friend—the one with perfect recall for human foible, mystery, and contradiction. HEALEY IS A TREASURE TO BE SAVORED. (Joy Nicholson, author of The Tribes of Palos Verdes)

Robert Ridinger

This welcome volume marks the first time that a collection of short stories by the prolific Los Angeles writer Trebor Healey has been assembled in book form. The eleven selections take the reader on far journeys in space and time, from Ireland, the forests of Alaska, and the cobblestone streets of Guanajuato to the streets and saloons of California's post Gold Rush prosperity and San Francisco in the age of AIDS. . . . PULLS THE READER IN IMMEDIATELY AND OFFERS A JOURNEY TO THE DISTANT COASTS OF EMOTION, which may be as far as the moon or as close as the hand of a dying old man, as in 'A California Death'. Libraries wishing to enhance their collections of contemporary gay fiction should make A Perfect Scar a priority purchase to support undergraduate and graduate courses in English and LGBT studies. (Robert Ridinger, Northern Illinois University, Editor, Speaking For Our Lives: Historic Speeches and Rhetoric for Gay and Lesbian Rights (1892 - 2000) )

Bernard Cooper

Shows us men and women whose lives have been, or are about to be, forever altered by love. . . . . SHARP, EMPATHIC, AND UNFORGETTABLE. (Bernard Cooper, author of The Bill From My Father)

Kirk Read

TREBOR HEALEY IS ALL SOUL. He makes a room warmer with his presence. The way he stacks sentences vibrates on the page. There's an impressive, experimental range in this short story collection. Trebor Healey uses multiple narrators to bring voice to a variety of human experiences. I was surprised by each story and trusted Healey as a guide through these worlds. (Kirk Read, author of How I Learned to Snap)

Editorial Reviews

Intended for generalists and specialists in plant pathology. . . . A GREAT AMOUNT OF INFORMATION.

Journal of Phytopathology