Customer Reviews

Outlaw: John Rechy

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Before this biography, Rechy had attained the status of a mysterious literary legend. He kept his literary lfe separate from his private life, which included, even after the success of his classic "City of Night," almost nightly incursions into the world of hustling, sex in exchange for money. In the meantime he continued to amass a body of work that, as he boldly boasts (there is nothing modest about Rechy's pronouncements about himself, and the gallery of photographs included emphasize that), can stand up to that of any other writer today. Casillo's biography reveals many tantalizng aspects of Rechy's life, particularly his childhood and early years. That is where the book is strongest, and some passages are very poignant. He's also very good toward the end of the book when delving into Rechy's literary accoplishments. His close retelling of Rechy's earlier novels, including "City of Night," "Numbers," "The Sexual Outlaw," ETC., will probably send readers back to the original thinly disguised novels by Rechy himself, especially when Casillo often quotes long passages from those books, letting Rechy tell his story in his own words. Casillo does a good job of exploring Rechy's lesser known books, revealing the wide range of this writer. This is a very good and highly readable book, at times somewhat sketchy (the reader may want to know even more), but for all that it is a welcome exploration of Rechy's life as a child and his life as a hustler, while allowing him his deserved status as a writer.

It's been a long time since I've read a life story so fascinating told in such a compelling way. Rechy's life is filled with drama, comedy and sex (which I love!) Casillo does a beautiful job and tells the story with such compassion and passion--I truly couldn't put this book down.

"Outlaw" is an extremely well written biography. It focuses equally on
Rechy's private life as a street hustler and his amazing career as a writer.
The book also documents the changing atmosphere in homosexual culture from
the 1950s to the present. Considering Rechy's life as a male prostitute In
New York on Times Square and in Los Angeles, Casillo does not take a
sensationalistic approach to reviewing his life. Instead he takes a serious,
intelligent approach--studying Rechy's development from tortured childhood,
to conflicted young man, to literary lion. It really is very fascinating
reading. I recommend it.

I read this book voraciosuly - a comprehensive, fascinating study which sheds a lot of light on one of the most mysterious most interesting characters in the history of American fiction!!

I enjoyed this book so much I carry it with me and pull it out on the train to read it at whim!

A GREAT READ!

A highly compelling story, told by a refreshingly candid author. Mr Casillo's dramatic and insightful probe into the various persona created and projected by Rechy, results in a fascinating and complex kaleidoscope of character traits. Unravelling each layer and facade of the infamous writer and hustler, must surely have been a daunting task - but the reader is skillfully navigated through Rechy's checkered life by the empathetic and compassionate writer - who manages to maintain a balanced objectivity throughout the biography.
I highly recommend this book which will appeal to a wide audience of readers.

A thoughtful, serious examination of the life and career(s) of the enigmatic John Rechy, written in a straightforward yet entertaining style by Charles Casillo. If you know who Rechy is already, this will give you "backstory" - if you don't know who Rechy is, this will give you a great introduction and overview of a major figure in gay literature (and Hollywood history).

I have to disagree with previous commentator who thought Rechy and Casillo looked alike. But I do agree that both are "well-packaged", which doesn't hurt when imagining a husky-voiced Casillo reading his work aloud to you over your pillow.....

Can't wait for the movie!

Whether you are a fan of John Rechy's writing or have never even read a sentence of his, this book is an enjoyable and informative read. Rechy broke many barriers and continually strived to do so throughout his writing career. There have been many imitators but few who will ever come close to his originality. If you are a fan of gay literature - hell, if you are just a fan of literature - you owe it to yourself to know Rechy's work and this book offers not only an excellent introduction, but is a valuable resource for all the legions of Rechy fans who became (and continue to become) fascinated by the man behind the words. Casillo manages to provide that delicate balance between admiration and critical analysis without ever pandering to the reader or his subject. His prose is simple, precise, thoughtful and never pretentious. I highly recommend this book for all readers. Read it, then really treat yourself and pick up a few of Rechy's novels along with a few of Casillo's. You won't be disappointed.

To be honest I had never even heard of John Rechy ...but while searching on Amazon[.com] for some new reading material I came across the listing for Charles Casillo's "Outlaw" book. I decided on a whim to order it and I am so glad I did - I was floored!... This is one of the best written bios I have EVER read - the fact that even AFTER he became a top author, Rechy still continued to hustle his body on the cold gritty streets shocked the hell out me! - well it kept me spellbound from start to finish,which believe me is not easy to do! Casillo's fascinating character study of John Rechy made we want more - from BOTH author and subject! I have also recently ordered Casillo's other book, "The Marilyn Diaries" and COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN!... I read it in one sitting and Casillo is now my new favorite author - I am anxiously awaiting his next book!... I am also anxiously awaiting several of Rechy's own books, which I have ordered including "City Of Night" - all I can say is WOW!...

I read this book while traveling on a long flight, and I had a hard time putting it down. I was aware of John Rechy, as an author, but this book allows us a view into Rechy the man, with his inner turmoil and obsessions. While it is true Rechy's books were autobiographical in nature, Charles Casillo provides insight from obviously many sessions with Rechy, as well as his peers and friends, that motivates the reader to want to read more of Rechy's works. The biography is well written and documented, and even began to challenge some of my own inner development and feelings. I found this a very fascinating and good read!

Charles Casillo's biography "Outlaw: John Rechy" proves that since the 1963 publication of City of Night, Rechy's life pales in comparison to the lives explored by his daring and complex protagonists and supporting characters. Nevertheless, this biography attempts to track the course of Rechy's life as an introverted but artistic child who grew up into the "sexual intellectual" who pushed the boundaries of sexual expression as a fiction writer.

In part one, titled "Seeds," Rechy's biographer lays out Rechy's family history and Rechy's early life in El Paso. He tells us of Rechy's grandparents settling in El Paso, Texas after fleeing Mexico during the Mexican Revolution. The reader is introduced to Roberto Sixto, Rechy's Scottish-Spanish father, an aspiring musician who ultimately failed as such, which preceded his second marriage to Guadalupe Flores, a loving Mexican woman who would become Rechy's mother and Rechy's muse. A violent father, sexual confusion and ethnic alienation riddled Rechy's childhood. As an overachiever in school with artistic longings, Rechy sought refuge in stage performance and writing. As a teenager, he longed to escape El Paso by attending college. After quitting college, Rechy entered the military, which suffocated any possibility for him to explore his (homo)sexuality. He later returned to college. This time, he attended college in New York--the city where the "sexual intellectual" would be born.

"Exploring Night," the second section, tells the story of how Rechy carved out his identity as a rough trade hustler in the underground scene in New York that would become his inspiration for City of Night. In New York, and later in Los Angeles, Rechy met the individuals who would become immortalized in his now classic novel. For example, "Pete" and "Miss Destiny" became characters loved by readers that Rechy found to represent the loneliness and distance that he felt as a child and into maturity.

The third installment, "A Screaming Need," describes the publication of City of Night and the response it received from critics and readers. Despite literary success, Rechy continued to find refuge in the streets as a rough trade hustler. His experiences included links with famous writers and wealthy intellectuals who primarily saw Rechy as a less-than-intelligent trade who couldn't possibly have written the novel that exposed the underground life of hustling. The most notable experiences, of course, described Rechy's several run-ins with the law during his sexcapades. Rechy performed his masculinity as a hustler just as his hustling experiences became the fodder for his latter writings which included Numbers. As he grew into a respected writer, Rechy continued to find hustling the source of life to drive away the loneliness and distance that had plagued him since childhood amidst poverty, alienation and an intolerable and demonic father. As a result, death and loneliness became central in his fiction, as laid out in "This Day's Death."

The last section of the book, "Sexual Intellectual," tells the story of how Rechy's sexual identity and intellectual identity merged after Rechy continued to hustle in the streets only after finding a secure job as a professor of writing. Rechy then faced a struggle between true love (with Michael Snyder, who changed his life for the better) and a fierce hunger to continue hustling. However, as the 1970s unfolded, Rechy found the hustling underworld to have changed, which alienated him. Rechy continued to write in the 1980s and into the 1990s. After the tragic loss of his beloved mother, Guadalupe, Rechy wrote The Miraculous Day of Amalia Gomez, an homage to her that became the premier novel in Chicano/Latino Literature. In 1997, Rechy finally became honored as a literary trailblazer when he received the PEN Center USA-West award in 1997.

Casillo has certainly succeeded in weaving interviews with family members, Rechy interviews and novel excerpts to unfold this interesting biography that proves complex to tell in a span of 300 pages. The disappointments included Rechy's choice to remain silent on a specific discussion of sexual abuse suffered as a child. Also, Rechy remains vague on how he came to embrace his femininity as a gay man considering that he built a persona that promoted a narcissistic butch/top/trade role. Sometimes the book appeared ahistorical since Rechy's life in the public eye became relative to the changing times in America between the 1930s and 1980s. Nevertheless, Casillo carries his role as a biographer carefully instead of a role as historian (I tend to conflate both roles in the excellent writing of a biography).

Yet, the end result is a biography that will delight readers who are now being introduced to Rechy's work. For Rechy scholars however, the biography leaves us with many questions about "The Legend": What is the actual root of Rechy's literary genius? How is Rechy the subject instead of an object of his life? How has Rechy's fiction stood the test of time since the times changed without him (as revealed in the biography)? Does his work describe the changing of the times?

How can we get away from psychoanalyzing Rechy's life considering his Oedipal childhood and Rechy's obsession with his mother? The most interesting of questions to me is: Will Rechy ever consider presenting his true self through a memoir? John, remember that memory is sacred. To dismiss an autobiography is to dismiss someone's memory and consider it irrelevant for an understanding of the self. Some food for thought.