Customer Reviews

The Coming of the Night (Rechy, John)

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I'm surprised, and really delighted, that a novel about gay characters and gay subjects can still make it to the top of the bestseller lists--it's been a Los Angeles Times Bestseller for several weeks. But when I read it, I wasn't surprised. It's a novel that goes far beyond its subject, becomes a stunning picture of an era--the 1980's. I don't know of any other book that has captured more exactly what was happening on the "sex front" right before "the coming of the night." That the book can be so serious and yet so humorous in places is surprising. When I read one of the characters asking another after sex, "Would you die for sex," I felt very moved and illuminated, and somewhat terrified. But it has places of great humor. The drag-queen Za-Za LaGrande had me roaring aloud. Its difficult to describe a novel that is as rich as this one, and so beautifully written, with a cast of characters that includes almost every one you'd find on the gay scene, in one day--a bodybuilder, an older man who loves opera, an S&M-er, a group of punks with their tough girl, a black guy, a hustler, etc. One day--that's how long the book takes. That one day, though, becomes an epic, and I'm sure that's why so many readers, gay and straight, are picking it up. This is Rechy's best since "City of Night."

Ever since I read "City of Night" in highschool a dozen years ago, I've been waiting for Rechy to write another book like his first classic novel. "The Coming of the Night" was worth the wait. I read it through in one sitting. It's a stunner. I won't ever forget the characters Rechy follows for one day and night, when whispers about AIDS were beginning but not believed. Rechy brings that very sexual time to life, and the book is very, very sexy. Rechy leads you with compassion to understand what was going on, how AIDS struck gay people with as much indifference as the heated wind blowing across the city. The book is beautifully written, and very pertinent to today. At times, it's surprisingly hilarious. I laughed aloud at the drag-queen rehearsing her porn stars for a private performance before a closeted movie executive. The book races back and forth from character to character, all different, all alive. I especially like Jesse, the beautiful 22-year-old kid celebrating a year of being gay; the picture Rechy draws of him is very accurate, very moving. The ending almost knocked me out. I sat there, stunned, absorbing it all. Frankly, this may be Rechy's best novel, as good as "City of Night."

No one can match Rechy in taking us along on a journey of discovery, and this new novel sweeps us into the lives of about a dozen or so men and a few women throughout one single hot day in Los Angeles. Rechy captures the eerie sexual mood of the city when the Santa Ana winds are blowing, and distant fires are blazing, just as he captures the lives of his characters, focusing on the moment they wake or appear in the City. They all come to life, Jesse "the kid" and Chas the strange biker--and the obsessed priest, so many others; they stayed in my mind, and I didn't intend to read the book in one sitting but I did, couldn't put it down--it's that kind of book. Very sexual, yes, and beautifully, even poetically written. No one does this better than Rechy.

I've read this novel twice, because, the first time, I raced through it to see how it would end. The second time, it's even better. I've been able to see how expertly Rechy uses language, how vividly the characters are drawn; he uses a different prose style for each of the many characters, a style that conveys the voice of each, from the driven priest to the hustler, the drag queen porn director, the black cowboy. Rechy is masterful at creating an oninous mood, employing the fierce Santa Ana winds of Los Angeles, the raging fires in the city, the approach of the night to arouse a sense of foreboding. It's a very sexual book because he is documenting a time when sex was everywhere, and he conveys that expertly. That he is able to bring all the diverse elements of his novel together in a stunning, startling climax is an accomplishment that ranks with his classic "City of Night." I would include this novel among the top books of the year.

I just read a real nasty review of this book in an L.A. paper, and the extent of the nastiness made me go out and buy the book, to check out why anyone could become so angry at a book by a very respected writer, Rechy. I understand now. It's a powerful book, and it's disturbing. It makes you think deeply about things, and if you don't want to think about those things--like S & M and a time when life was one endless sex parade--I guess one way to push it away is to attack it. The novel re-creates 1981 exactly as I remember it, sex everywhere--and, then, just whispers, intimations of a "gay illness." That's how it happened, and this book is especially relevant to what is happening today. Beyond that, its gallery of characters is unforgettable, and Rechy at the same time that he's at times brutally honest about his characters is compassionate, especially toward those who were being thrust out of the world that was more and more involved only with youth, allowing only the young in some dance places, bathhouses. The portrait of the older man Thomas Watkins almost brought me to tears; and there's a terrific female character, a gangster's girl, who toughly faces off some punks. The ending leaves you gasping, it's that powerful--and meaningful.

It would be impossible to list the vast number of novels that have been assaulted by reviewers and that history has elevated into the ranks of classics. Rechy's first novel, "City of Night" is one of those; despite some petty and nasty--and envious reviews--it has outlasted them all and become an acknowledged classic of modern literature. I believe that this novel, Rechy's twelfth in a body of work that is as impressive as that of any other American writer, will be one of the latter. I know of no work of fiction or non-fiction that more expertly--and movingly, and, yes, more frighteningly captures the crucial moments before AIDS struck than "The Coming of the Night." Not only that but it does so in a prose that is lyrical and harsh at the same time, and he is unsparing, both in depicting the rampant and exciting sexuality and sensuality of those times but in viewing it all with an uncompromising eye that celebrates as much as it warns a new generation. Clearly, Rechy was there, and he is a reliable witness. Surprisingly, the novel is not only filled with unforgettable characters, who are poignant; but it is at times very humorous--capturing both the highs and the lows of those recent, but now historical days of sexual abundance. The ending is breathtaking, and it has continued to haunt me. For over 30 years Rechy has produced work that is memorable, with an impressive range. This novel reveals him at the peak of his artistic powers, and, like his earlier novels and the memorable non-fiction work, "The Sexual Outlaw," it will surely outlast its critics.

That John Rechy can tell stories is a given: he is on most lists of important writers of the last century. In his genre of the darker side of gay life he is a master, and his latest novel proves his credentials.

Los Angeles in the 1980's, a city of novelty, raw emotion, desire, natural wildness as in the Santa Ana winds has rarely been so graphically presented. In the span of one day (and night) we encounter wholly believable characters - because we've known some of their prototypes - woven into the fabric of desire in a way that encourages a rapid-run, read-to-the-finish to try to keep up with the drive toward the climax. Once finished with the book the reader is left with the desire to start it all over again, to appreciate the interplay of the shrewdly drawn principal actors in this play. Writing like this comes only after years of working with subject. John Rechy gives us a wild, windy, exhilarating ride!

This is John Rechy's latest novel that is a sequel to his first book "City of Night", published over thirty-five years ago. "City of Night" became an instant classic and a literary sensation, especially in the very closted gay community of the early 1960's, when first published. It captured the time and overall mood of its period through the eyes of a nameless, faceless existential hustler. "The Coming of the Night" takes place in the summer of 1981, on a Saturday, only seconds before the great plague hits. This being AIDS of course. The narrative shifts from character to character, and in these shifts we learn about homophobia, sexual prowlness, the pains of being closted, hypermasculinity, rejection, denial of one's true personality, and the sordid world of prostitution, to name a few. The cast of chararcters are a motley crew of men ranging from a catholic priest, to a hustler, to a bodybuilder, to a S&M leatherman, etc..All of them seem to seek something, some of the characters get it, some don't. Regardless of this fact, they all strive for universal themes and truths that everyone wants and hopefully obtains. The end of this novel, as well as "City of Night", is not a happy one. However, this should not sway anyone from reading this novel. John Rechy is a hero for all the sexual outlaws, and they are many more than what people think, and he describes the world in an unflicnting and poetic style. He is a champion of love in all its strange and wonderful ways. A brillant work!

I enjoyed this book much more than City of Night. It's very readable and believable, and truly heartbreaking. The writing style is quite unique and takes a bit of getting used to, but the ending is tied together masterfully. (Similar to Picano's "Like People in History" with jumping plot lines.) My only criticism is that it is a bit too graphic, but then again, so were the early 80's. I recommend this book.

Wow! This is one of the better books that I have picked up in quite some time. Becoming an adult in the mid 80's, immediately after the AIDS epidemic changed the way we live, it was quite obvious that things would never be the same as they had been. This book is a brilliant representation of perspective and fate -showing how in the course of a day, unconnected lives can interface and brief moments and decisions can alter one's future forever. This book touches on a myriad of personalities and help give the reader insight to behaviors that are fueled by insecurity, vanity, empowerment, domination, loneliness, anger, etc. It was raw, dark and clearly descriptive of urban gay life prior to the mid 80's. Despite its graphic and poignant sexual content, ANY reader will have to appreciate the way the author constructs and implements this story with seamless transitions and expertly developed characters. Keep an open mind and you will see a master author at his finest.