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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
Deadeningly pleonastically redundant. A great example of a work that can shake someone's world if they've never been exposed to such a focused depiction of the gay underground. This operates best as a soulful, theatrical historical record of pre-AIDS New York City, but, even then, so what if you could open this text to any page and find that it basically functions as a thirty page loop until the ending. The tone is static. The characters are static. The novel is static, which goes against the kinetic energy you see Holleran trying to embody. It's telling that many positive reviews on Goodreads feel the need to say that THIS IS A POST-STONEWALL PRE-AIDS CLASSIC OF GAY LITERATURE, as if that ubiquitous recognition means they must indeed love the book on those terms: influence and import. Sometimes, pioneers deserve to be thought of as bound to a "proto" prefixing rather than viewed as the earliest embodiment of perfection.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Anthony Malone, a young and handsome small-town lawyer, leaves behind his straight life for New York City’s emerging gay scene. Guided by the flamboyant (and self-described Queen) Sutherland, he explores Manhattan’s nightlife, Fire Island’s lavish parties, and encounters in city parks. However, as he delves deeper into this world of intense joys and superficial truths, he begins to question whether true fulfillment can be found amidst the glamour and excess, despite Sutherland’s guidance and wisdom.
There was a lot to like about this one. I thought our main character Anthony was interesting, and I loved Sutherland and their dramatics. I loved loved loved the intro and outro letters and I enjoyed finding the bits from the letters in the story as it moved along. I haven’t read enough gay literature set in the 70s before the AIDS crisis but this was a really good start.
Oh and that ending! The more I sat with it the more I enjoyed it.
There was a lot to like about this one. I thought our main character Anthony was interesting, and I loved Sutherland and their dramatics. I loved loved loved the intro and outro letters and I enjoyed finding the bits from the letters in the story as it moved along. I haven’t read enough gay literature set in the 70s before the AIDS crisis but this was a really good start.
Oh and that ending! The more I sat with it the more I enjoyed it.
This feels like the kind of novel I’d want to read again five years from now when I’m not Eat Pray Love-ing my way through Europe and have had some time to reflect more on what youth generally and my youth specifically means to me. But! For now I thought this was hilarious and cold and frustrating and repetitive and luscious and fun and harrowing and glamorous. Was not obsessed with the way Holleran writes about Puerto Rican people but you can’t win them all!!
Very good. It took a long time to finish but definitely my most interesting read in a while. Loved it!!
Finished this very quickly. First published 1978. About gay life in NYC during the 70s. Themes: obsession with youth/beauty, the city, sensuality/sexuality, the search for purpose and love. One of the primary characters is certainly a racist, which is difficult to read in 2024, but I think the story remains relevant.
"He wanted to keep this life in the realm of the perfect, the ideal. He wanted to be desired, not possessed, for in remaining desired he remained, like the figure on the Grecian urn, forever pursued. He knew quite well that once possessed he would no longer be enchanted—so sex itself became secondary to the spectacle."
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5 stars. I loved this story of the New York gay scene in the 1970s - it's funny and entertaining while also beautifully sad and moving. Many have compared the book to The Great Gatsby -- there are obvious similarities, both being about a charming man at the centre of all the best parties -- Malone is ostensibly known by everyone and yet not truly known by anyone, always in love with someone until they become a reality and he is lonely again. I loved the characters at the centre of the story, Malone and Sutherland, and thought the whole thing was beautifully written.