And then I got disappointed. I mean, I am getting the impression that gay literature simply means it is literature that is all about hustlers, drag queens, random anonymous sex, and so on. I am a member of the gay community, but somehow, reading this book was rather alienating. I understand the bold statement that this book wanted to give, especially considering that this was published in a social period rather different from today. But still, somehow I do not see the rare and beautiful recklessness that some reviewers characterise this book as. For me, it was just recklessness.
It's essentially a book written in freestyle, about a man's experiences as a hustler, in various cities in the United States. It is autobiographical, or at least is highly indicative that it is. The man travels across the United States, and has different encounters with various characters. And the book chapters are just recollections after recollections of these various encounters. Somehow it reminds me of Henry Miller's writings. The big difference being that this focuses purely on the encounters of a homosexual male.
For the most part, I hated the book. Perhaps the only segment that I thought I liked was this encounter with the man Jeremy, which appears near the end. It's an encounter that somehow hits the heart, exposing the narrator as someone who takes money for sex, just because he seems to be running away from his own feelings, and that there's something deeper that is worth unpacking, but alas, the narrator is unwilling to do so. And as a result, he doesn't permit himself to love, and somehow declines Jeremy's offer for something more meaningful than a sexual tryst that is over once you've had an orgasm.
Deep, huh? No. Not really. Sorry, but if this book is trying to portray the lives of homosexuals, I am sorry but being homosexual is more than sleeping around. I am not trying to be prudent here. But I do want to point out that being gay is more than just sex, drugs, and alcohol. And unfortunately, this book is giving a very skewed view of it.
I give it 3 out of 5 stars. I would have given it a 2 if not for the segment about Jeremy. Seriously though, there are way better specimens of gay literature out there than this one in my opinion.
See my other book reviews here.
