Beneath the Skin: The Collected Essays of John Rechy
Search in google:
When John Rechy broke out in 1963 as the bestselling author of City of Night, his novel about the underworld of gay male prostitution, he became a source for provocative commentary on sex, homosexuality, and culturally transgressive literature for publications as varied as the New York Times, The Nation, the Advocate, and Forum. Beneath the Skin collects more than four decades of the author’s outspoken essays—many never before reprinted and almost none ever appearing previously in book form. Rechy holds forth on topics ranging from the birth of the sexual liberation movement, the rise of Anita Bryant, and the emergence of AIDS to sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and last year’s repeal of sodomy laws. Beneath the Skin also includes pieces on gay and lesbian authors such as Gore Vidal, Jack Kerouac, Christopher Isherwood, Carson McCullers, and Elizabeth Bowen, and non-gay figures like Philip Roth, William T. Vollman, and Joyce Carol Oates, as well as essays on Madonna, Tom Cruise, Eminem, Liberace, Marilyn Monroe, and the gay silent film star Ramon Novarro.Publishers WeeklyA boost in Rechy's literary visibility following the 2002 biography Outlaw makes the time ripe for this career-spanning collection of essays. Broken into four sections, the anthology organizes its pieces generally by decade (though the first section covers the period 1958 to 1979) with occasional afterthoughts. Though one of the goals is to demonstrate Rechy's versatility beyond the homosexual themes (from AIDS to homosexuality in film) that made him famous, too many of the wider-ranging pieces are not especially noteworthy. Eminent exceptions include reportage from 1970 on the army's battle against soldiers protesting the Vietnam War and a 2003 tribute to the late Kathleen Winsor (Forever Amber), while the opening chapter on Rechy's childhood roots in the Mexican immigrant culture of El Paso illuminates a milieu that has shaped his writing. Rechy tends to be more energetic and persuasive when he turns to queer subjects; one prominent homophobic attack on his first novel, City of Night, still rankles 40 years later and is the subject of two articles. This isn't an ideal introduction to Rechy-his fiction better serves that purpose-but it will give those familiar with him much to think about and to feel, including perhaps regret that he hasn't done more of the journalistic writing that, at its best, highlights his powers of observation. (Mar.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
ForewordEl Paso del Norte3The city of lost angels17"Conduct unbecoming ... " : lieutenant on the peace line36The army fights an idea49"All it does is make you hate"58The sunshine girl's homophobic pitch67Common bonds and battles70Masters and Johnson focus on homosexuality74A case for Cruising77Hollywood and homosexuality : heterosexual films in drag85Twenty years of Gore Vidal : a candidate for canonization?94Burroughs strokes again97Memory babe101AIDS : mysteries and hidden dangers104The dean from Dublin : a truly civilized man108City of night remembered111Less than zero123A high court decision and a sense of betrayal126Carson McCullers' Reflections in a golden eye129Muscles and mascara136Sixty years later a gay classic enters (almost) the mainstream145The outlaw sensibility150A tough guy from L.A.168Letter to Gore Vidal172Letter to the New York review of books177Sets and reps181Sergei Eisenstein : a life in conflict187Places left unfinished at the time of Creation191Brother Paul, Sister Jan, Brother Hinn, God, and the folks197Lay of the land : Christopher Isherwood's Lost years205Randy Dandy : Liberace, American boy212Holy drag!219The horror, the horror : thoughts on the aftermath of September 11222Beatin' around the Bush231Sins of the fathers234Cruise not gay! : the judge has spoken238Blonde242Lawrence brings it all back home251From Sunset Boulevard to Mulholland Drive257A star is killed272A spirit preserved in Amber277On writing : the terrible three rules282Our friend the comma286Fragments from a literary life290He hugged moms and dads296
