Customer Reviews

A Brother's Touch

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I am really thrilled to discover that this novel is back in print. When I first read it twenty years ago I thought it was a terrific story, a panoramic view of New York society from the highest to the lowest, highly diverting and entertaining.

I lived through that period of social upheaval when closet doors were being ripped open and people took to the streets to demand their rights. When people ask me what New York City was like in the post-Stonewall era, I always say, "Read 'A Brother's Touch'." No novel of that period better captures what it was like to be gay in pre-AIDS New York.

The novel's focus is the life of Chicken, a teenage throwaway who, before his tragic, early death moved through many levels of New York society. The author's depiction of the interlocking levels and contrasting lives as well as his telling the story from the point of view of Chicken's brother, a straight man looking for the truth about his brother's death, makes this novel accessible to all readers interested in a dramatic story, vivid characters and situations.

Those who read the novel when it was first issued may want to read again such high points as the rally at City Hall, the dramatic ending, and so much more. I'm glad that new readers now have the chance to discover this marvelous story and memorable characters.

This murder mystery was greeted with howls of outrage by the gay community when it first came out. But if one compares it to the real-life picture of the same milieu given by Trudee Able-Peterson in her book "Children of the Evening' (1981), one is struck by the extraordinary similarity.

At long last this out-of-print novel will be available in a 20th Anniversary trade paperback edition just in time for summer. Once you start reading you can't put it down! When originally published, A Brother's Touch was both lauded and condemned. Now 20 years after its first printing, this timeless story of loss and recognition is more vital and readable then ever.