One of The Atlantics Great American Novels
"A hymn to gay liberation in the city, and to male beauty." Darryl Pinckney,T, The New York TimesStyle magazine
"Nothing could be more beautiful than Holleran's tableaux of New York, those hot summer city nights when lonely men sit on their stoops or their fire escapes and stare at that endless parade of unattainable lovers." Boston Globe
Andrew Hollerans landmark gay novel of a young man's search for love and companionship in New Yorks emerging gay world in the 1970s, with a new introduction by Garth Greenwell.
Young, astonishingly beautiful, and tired of living a lie, Anthony Malone trades life as a seemingly straight small-town lawyer for the decadence of New Yorks emerging, pre-AIDS era gay scenean odyssey that takes him from Manhattans Everard baths and after hour discos, to lavish orgies on Fire Island and parks after dark. Rescuing Malone from a possessive lover and shepherding him through his immersion in this life of fierce joys and cheap truths is the flamboyant Sutherland, a high-camp quintessential queen. But for Malone, the endless city nights and Fire Island days are close to burning out, and despite Sutherlands abundant attentiveness and glittering world-weary wisdom, Malone soon realizes what he is truly looking for may not be found in these beautiful places, where life is crowded, and people are forever outrunning their own desires and death.
