Novel by Jonathan Richy
Reactions: Beautiful, Couldn’t put it down

City of Night sat on my shelf for years. I avoided it mostly because it had been likened, mostly chronologically, to Beat Generation authors. I have never enjoyed a single book written by the Beat authors. Finally, I thought, fuck it, I’ll read the first 10 pages and decide. I’m so glad I did.

This novel is just stunning. It’s gritty. It’s lyrical. It’s experimental. It’s gay. I loved everything about it. So much so that when I set out to read the first ten pages, I ended up reading 80 pages in one sitting. 

The novel is set in the early 1960s and is about a young man from El Paso, Texas who sets out for New York City. Once there, he discovers the world of street hustling where straight men get paid by homosexuals and closeted guys for non reciprocal sex. Let me be clear: The sex is not explicit. There are no raunchy graphic scenes. However, I’m certain that in the 60s even the allusion to the sexual activities probably broke people’s minds.

The most important thing about it is the post modern experimental prose structure. Some people hate it. I loved it. It creates a stream of consciousness effect that helps you feel like you’re really in his head experiencing all these larger than life characters. 

There’s 60 years of analysis of this book that I can’t even pretend to stack up against. Instead I’ll focus on what this book was for me:

1. A deep and vibrant study of characters. Whether it’s the professor in NYC, the trans folks in LA (aka “queens” in his words), the Hollywood star, the leather man in SF, or the bar owner in New Orleans, Richy brings to life characters so vivid and timeless, that I’m certain I’ve met one of each of them in my own time being gay. 

2. A coming out story. The main character identifies as straight, or at least that’s what we’re led to assume. And the early part of the book is much more matter of fact describing what he sees and who he encounters as a hustler. But by the time he dates the actor and encounters the SF leather man, he becomes more ponderous. The prose becomes more nuanced. He’s clearly processing what these other people are going through and how it’s affecting his own perceptions of masculinity and love. Finally in New Orleans, the chapter is wholly different – it’s deeply introspective. And this isn’t relegated to the deep conversation he has with his john, but shows up in all his interactions during Mardi Gras. He’s fully processing his own potential queer identity by the end. 

I fucking loved this novel. I’ll read it again someday. And perhaps my favorite aspect was that even in the 60s, Richy was using the appropriate pronouns for the queens (aka trans folks). Yet another aspect of the book that makes it so timeless.

Previously, Dancer from the Dance by Andrew Holleran was my favorite gay novel. Both novels are great, but I’m certain that City of Night has taken the top spot for me now.