Yes, it's satire. I know. It's portraying the fast lifestyle of gay men in 1970s New York City. This is all before the AIDS epidemic, when every gay man was essentially having sex with everyone else. And in the middle of that crowd, you find Fred Lemish, the main character, who is modelled after the author, trying to find true love before he turns 40. This is not an easy feat, when everyone else around him are more interested in his dick than in his heart.
To some extent, I can relate. I am 5 decades behind this book, and still the gay community still feels like this at times. Nowadays, there are dating apps, and on these apps, you see profiles of people who seem to have a goal just to have sex with every other good looking person on the app. And even though they are already old, they still call themselves with nicknames with the term "boy" which makes people wonder, wow, you're already almost 40, and yet you still call yourself a boy?
Yes, the LGBT community can be very superficial. It's a community that I myself am part of, and at times I find also alienating. I suppose this is the point of the book, and that within us, there are also people who just want a quiet life with someone else to grow old with. But for the most part, this is made difficult by the very visual aspect of this community, where the size of one's penis is way much valuable than the size of one's heart. I suppose, this was the reason why this book was also ostracised by the gay community back when it was published. And only later when the AIDS epidemic hit was there some sort of redemption.
This is a tough read. I know the author was trying to prove a point, but at 380-something pages, I thought there were times when I already got the point, and I didn't need it to be rubbed in further. It's not a book for everyone, and I am definitely wondering whether I would give it 2 or 3 stars.
Well, I've given it some thought. It is 2 stars for me. Don't pick this up unless you're ready to be shocked.
See my other book reviews here.
