On Brokeback Mountain: Meditations about Masculinity, Fear, and Love in the Story and the Film

On Brokeback Mountain provides accessible, close, and comparative readings of the story and the film, discussing them in relation to the social history of sexual minority men in America. By analyzing the literary and artistic traditions of the homoerotic pastoral, the popular tradition of the Western, and the tradition of the tragic romantic love story, the book explores the American cultural construction of masculinity, friendship, and sexual relationships between men, and the sources and effects of homophobia.