Gave up on John Rechy's City of Night on page 112. I had wanted to give it a try because when published in 1963, it was the first major book written about one aspect of gay life in the big cities, that of the hustler in Times Square in New York, Pershing Square i.n LA. The Washington Post once labeled it as "one of major books to be published since World War II."
So I began. I finished the New York section and started on LA. Soon LA began to sound a lot like New York. Since the introduction said the book would cover the lifestyle in various cities, I sensed a lot of repetittion would be forthcoming, I stopped reading. (Once you've seen Times Square, you've seen 'em all, perhaps?) I will, however keep the book and may sometime make another stab. The writing style is interesting, as are many of the outrageous characters. Right now though, not having enough time to devote to it, I'll make a dangerous assumption and figure I know what is covered in the remaining 290 pages.
It was, of course, a landmark in literature and when I read it at the time, an eye opener. I have not revisited the book in many years so cannot comment on your experience Martha, but memory tells me that while the stories may seem the same or similar, they contained a whole lot of data that those of us who were struggling to find a gay identity relished.
Rechy's way of describing places and practices was unerringly accurate and provocative to those of us yearning for the information.
Have no idea how it would read to a non-fellow traveler, however.
I am currently struggling to complete "C" by Tom McCarthy, and I do mean struggling. It is this month's book club selection otherwise it would have gone down long ago.
