Abstract In the Bragg and Minna stories, Findley continues his war against inner monsters, particularly the codes which constitute the conservative ideal of 'manhood'. The character of Bragg is a sympathetic portrait of the harmful effects produced by the internalization of homophobic codes of masculinity. But Findley's gender representations tend to maintain the conventional masculine/ feminine dichotomy, rather than problematizing it. Findley rejects any identification with queer politics, in favour of a broad liberal humanism which seeks to erase differences. As a result, his fictions produce the curious impression of simultaneously acknowledging and refusing to deal with specific histories of oppression. 'I wouldn't write a gay novel for all the tea in China.' Dust to Dust Madness, violence, and death have always been present in Timothy Findley's fiction. In explanation, Findley often cites the impact of World War II on his generation, and the persistent, if diffuse, threat of homophobic violence. As Lorraine York has remarked, 'Findley is drawn to -- and repulsed by -- the male club.'[1] The club is a particularly apt metaphor for Findley's definition of the word 'manhood', which he once remarked '[has] done a lot of damage to both men and women. I don't know why, but I always associate the word manhood with killing'.[2] Like all clubs, 'manhood' has rules, codes, and rituals, often secret or unwritten, and consequently mysterious to the uninitiated or the outsider: for this club, like others, is based on exclusion. Findley's fascinated horror finds its most extreme expression in the 'Club of Men' depicted in Headhunter, where the male members physically and sexually abuse children with pornographic, incestuous, and ultimately murderous intent. But Findley equally examines the more mundane effects of codes of masculinity elsewhere in his writing. Hence the concept of fraternizing with the enemy, a phrase that cuts both ways. The homosexual man is frequently seen as gender traitor, scapegoat, or target from the perspective of the 'male club', an enemy all the more dangerous because of his ability to pass. From the homosexual's point of view, the enemy is equally difficult to identify, and frequently ambushes one from within. In other words, the 'masculine' behaviours and codes learned from infancy can be understood as mechanisms of social control that act to reinforce the status quo. Once internalized, these codes become hard to recognize, let alone change. This paper will focus specifically on a series of stories, four to date, exploring the complex relationship between writers Stuart Bragg and Minna Joyce: 'Bragg and Minna' and 'A Gift of Mercy', which appear in Stones (1988), followed by 'A Bag of Bones' and 'Come As You Are' from Dust to Dust (1997).[3] The sequence of stories begins at the end, with Minna's death and Bragg's journey to Australia to scatter her ashes and find their baby daughter, Stella. Stella was born with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, and also has irreversible brain damage. Bragg, who had always feared fathering a 'monster' because there had been genetic defects in previous generations of his family ('Bragg and Minna', p. 15), withdrew almost completely after Stella's birth, so when Minna discovered she was going to die, she took her daughter to Australia to find someone else to love and care for her. Bragg is travelling with his lover Col, who had come to live with the couple in the latter stages of their marriage. Recurrent themes of monsters, genetic homosexuals, babies, and AIDS are introduced in this opening story; an additional motif of strangers emerges in 'A Gift of Mercy'. The subsequent stories are read through these elements, even when they are not always stated explicitly, as Findley works backwards, filling in earlier segments of the narrative, sketching their lives together, first as a couple and then, with the advent of Colin, as a menage a trois. …