The B-Side of Daniel Garneau: what comes after

26 Sep 2023 - photos courtesy of David Kingston Yeh

"Gay love is so punk rock."

'B-side' is an arguably archaic term for the song that was on the flip side of a 45 rpm single. The single, the 'a-side,' was supposed to get all the attention with the 'b-side' being a bonus. Or an obscurity. Or an experiment. Or a cover. And, occasionally, a far more interesting song or, even more rarely, a bigger hit when a DJ turns the vinyl over and discovers a gem.

The B-Side of Daniel Garneau is the third novel in David Kingston Yeh's trilogy chronicling the adventures of Daniel Garneau. In the first novel, A Boy at the Edge of the World, Daniel comes to Toronto, comes out, and we are introduced to his eccentric family and a cast of colourful supporting characters. In the second novel, Tales From the Bottom of My Sole, Daniel struggles with finding love with David Moretti and his eccentric family and cast of colourful supporting characters. The B-Side of Daniel Garneau drops us back into the worlds that Daniel intersects with. 

Daniel is an amiable, lovable cipher. We are told he is studying to become a doctor, but that becomes more of a plot device than an action that has any bearing on the plot, aside from a late in the game deus ex machina. All of Daniel's family and friends come complete with sexual or artistic quirks. Unlike the previous two novels, sexual fluidity and gender identity are taken for granted, the characters are learning how to move forward with their choices or explorations. There are crises, but they are minor and every letter of the LGBTQ+ spectrum, plus heterosexuality in all its inherent weirdness, is validated. Yeh does for Toronto what Armistead Maupin did for San Francisco, a Tales of the Six, evoking a warm nostalgia for a period of time we are still living. Daniel is the straight man surrounded by a lively b-side of character gems.

Yeh has the difficult job of presenting the cast, reminding us of or introducing us to, as quickly as possible before sending them pinballing into the multiple plotlines. Having enjoyed the previous two novels, I still appreciated the shorthand backstories and it was like catching up with old friends that hadn't been around lately. None of their passions or perversions are too shocking, and Daniel's nonchalance and wide-eyed appreciation for difference becomes the default. After all this is a man who repeatedly gushes about the beauty of snow, a little S&M, naked boys reading, or food play is not going to be anything but a curiosity viewed with wonder. That sense of acceptance bleeds into the dramas so that none of the tragedies, troubles or predicaments carry much weight. They are just as much a part of the fabric of life as the joyful events.

The B-Side of Daniel Garneau is packed with Toronto-centric, pop culture and hipster references. There is a real sense of place and indeterminate time. If one doesn't resonate, the next five will. Because The B-Side of Daniel Garneau is about what comes after. What comes after gay love. What comes after punk rock. What comes after one settles into what is one's life. Daniel's central dilemma is how to reconcile his love for David with his wandering eye, his lingering lust for his ex, his fear that the spark won't last. But the novel is also about what comes after the artistic cultural moment one blossoms in. Daniel's brother's band is haunted by being post-everything while trying to be original and new. Daniel's ex, the mad and wildly successful visual artist, is haunted by his past lovers, Canadiana, and the fear of not being the hot new thing on the scene. Daniel's best friend is haunted by her love for Daniel's brother. Daniel is haunted by the mad love his parent's had for each other. All of the characters have a figment of the past intruding on the present.

Daniel, despite a plethora of inspirational epigrams, doesn't offer us a solution. Arguably he doesn't find a solution and just goes on searching. Yeh makes the solution clear in the subtext. Love takes a variety of forms and opening oneself up to the possibilities, being present and in the moment, is as rich as nostalgia or kink. Daniel and David have a lot of wonderfully rendered sex that is only borderline experimental, but eminently satisfying. As long as they keep talking and loving, they are going to be just fine. It is a golden, perhaps overly optimistic, worldview, but I hope that Yeh is right and that glorious b-sides, full of quirky splendour, are what comes after.