
City of Night (Paperback)
John Rechy (author)
£12.00
Paperback
384 Pages /
Published: 05/03/2009
- Not available
Bold and inventive in style, City of Night is the groundbreaking 1960s novel about male prostitution. Rechy is unflinching in his portrayal of one hustling 'youngman' and his search for self-knowledge among the other denizens of his neon-lit world. As the narrator moves from Texas to Times Square and then on to the French Quarter of New Orleans, Rechy delivers a portrait of the edges of America that has lost none of its power.
On his travels, the nameless narrator meets a collection of unforgettable characters, from vice cops to guilt-ridden married men eaten up by desire, to Lance O'Hara, once Hollywood's biggest star. Rechy describes this world with candour and understanding in a prose that is highly personal and vividly descriptive.
Publisher: Profile Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780285638372
Number of pages: 384
Weight: 415 g
Dimensions: 215 x 135 x 30 mm
Edition: Main
MEDIA REVIEWS
City of Night put a light up to the murky gay underworld of 60s America... The author was praised for his Benzedrine-fuelled prose and his pitch-perfect ear for period slang... A modern classic. * Boyz *
John Rechy's groundbreaking novel City of Night lifted the lid on gay life in `60's America... it broke new ground with its depiction of the gay sexual subculture in America's cities... The author is ripe for rediscovery... uncensored for the first time. * TimeOut *
A breathless, amphetamine-fuelled dash across America... Rechy's descriptive energy is instead reserved for city life's twilight world and a colourful parade of characters... his descriptive energy surpasses any queer literature label. * New Statesman *
Rechy's tone rings absolutely true, is absolutely his own, and he has the kind of discipline which allows him a rare and beautiful recklessness. tells the truth, and tells it with such passion that we are forced to share in the life he conveys. This is a most humbling and liberating achievement. * James Baldwin *
One of the major books to be published since World War II. * Washington Post *
John Rechy's groundbreaking novel City of Night lifted the lid on gay life in `60's America... it broke new ground with its depiction of the gay sexual subculture in America's cities... The author is ripe for rediscovery... uncensored for the first time. * TimeOut *
A breathless, amphetamine-fuelled dash across America... Rechy's descriptive energy is instead reserved for city life's twilight world and a colourful parade of characters... his descriptive energy surpasses any queer literature label. * New Statesman *
Rechy's tone rings absolutely true, is absolutely his own, and he has the kind of discipline which allows him a rare and beautiful recklessness. tells the truth, and tells it with such passion that we are forced to share in the life he conveys. This is a most humbling and liberating achievement. * James Baldwin *
One of the major books to be published since World War II. * Washington Post *
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