Customer Reviews

Rushes

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Rushes" tells the stoyr of one night spent at a seddy leather/uniform night club in an unspecified warehouse district along the waterfront. It's a dark place, filled with sexual odors, drugs, hidden faces and lusts, and dark corners wherre anything and everything could be happening. Four friends - Endore, Chas, Bill and Don - spend the evening trying to find the one person to go home with. Endore is a columnist who writes about the gay lifestyle and his belief that there is no such thing as love in the gay world; Chas views the rushes as his hunting grounds, where he is the ultimate prize; Bill wants to see how many men he can connect with but his pickiness sometimes cluds his own judgement of people; and Don is the oldest of the group, feeling his age everytime he invites himself to join his friends at the Rushes.

Each has his own insecurities which come out in full force on this particular evening. Sides are taken when a woman named Lyndy - a fashion designer - is grudginly allowed into their macho, all-male domain. Her appearance and her banter act as a catalyst between Chas and Endore, alternately setting them against on another or forcing them to join the same side. Later, a drag queen and her female companion cause a stir near the entrance to the Rushes which forces Endore to take a closer look at how gay men have been forced to find places where they can be themselves, and any intrusion into that world is angrily looked down upon. This novel also touches on ageism and the fear of the gay community with the character of Don - who feels that no one wants anything to do with him because he's slightly older; he remembers the days before clubowners put up signs such as "Under 35s Only" when everyone went out to have fun and to enjoy each others company. Sure, everyone had to keep their sexual preferences hidden for fear of the police, but nowadays, you had to creep around to avoid the violent, name-calling youths would would very easily bash in your head with fist or pipes.

To get the feel of spending the night with this group in the Rushes, author John Rechy tells the story in present time, allowing the reader to feel and to see what each character does as if he/she were with them. Also, the chapters jump from character to character, almost giving the reader a sense of the darkness, the confusion and the electric atmosphere of the place. A dark and engrossing look into the leather bar scene.

A novel of grandeur in style, structure, and substance. Theatrical, ritualistic, and elegant!

Filled with insight, rage, power, and beauty, _Rushes_ is a novel that deserves high praise, even among its brilliant predecessors. Rechy's other literary works deserve elevation to a class by themselves, and this novel is no exception. From the careful highlighting of a bar's most subtle nuances, to a sophisticated social critique that remains unmatched and unanswered even today, _Rushes_ exhibits a complexity and depth that allows it to remain both contemporary and classic.

Drenched in metaphor, symbolism, wit, and charm, _Rushes_ is a sensual, exotic delight of a novel. Even as the politics and passion may challenge you, the atmosphere will seduce you. Face your desires, fears, friends, and enemies. Breathe deep and indulge yourself. _Ruhes_ is a novel worthy of your consideration and admiration.

John Rechy has been around for years and written many novels relating to life on the fringe. In Rushes he creates a dark forbidding and harsh world that repelled and excited this reader at various times. The characters are slightly cliche and generally not very nice. It is still a good read charged with high sexual tension and what now could be regarded as a histoical account of life in the late 1970's.

Hoo-boy. Someone dropped a couple of John Rechy books off at McKays, NUMBERS and RUSHES. I think that CITY OF NIGHT is an amazing book, and THE COMING OF THE NIGHT campy, but with lofty pretensions, so I've always been on the lookout for Rechy's other books, so I snagged these two despite their high (for used) prices. I just finished RUSHES, which was full of such disgusting, amoral and unpleasant people, none more so than the "everyman" who centers the story with his three confederates. RUSHES was written in 1979 and is the story of an evening in a heavy S&M-themed gay bar on the piers in New York City. Of course, with any book written at the time of the events, there is no foreshadowing, so Rechy had no idea that he was capturing a moment in gay life that would soon be wiped out by the upcoming AIDS virus. His characters have all converged to this gay bar, with its' mandatory "uniform" code for, well, for what. Each character has their own agenda, to forget past lovers, to initiate the newcomers into a lifestyle or to simply feel accepted for the night. The book is presented in such punishing tones, with the cruelest barbs saved for the older (40s) man in the group, who realizes that all of those bars with signs reading 35&Under have left him to fend for himself. There are many illusions to hunters, and that is certainly an aspect to the evenings' affairs. The notion of some African tribes who sent their older men into the wild to die, with the younger tribesmen throwing stones at them if they return, is a valid argument to these people. However, after the tenth leatherman walks by and the twentieth vial of amyl is inhaled, you just want to meet a guy and share a piece of cheesecake at a diner. Edmund Wilson constantly visits this scene, but in moderation - there is no indication that these men do anything else, and sure, one could argue that Rechy is telling a particular story, but he lets his characters spout such gibberish that the reader feels that to Rechy this is the end all be all of the gay existence. The interesting thing is, is that this attitude is still prevalent, in some ways. You can still have a profile online in which there are exclusions based on age, hair type, waist size, etc. As a group we write it off to "preferences," but cruelty can still be cruel. Rechy makes some valid observations, but the revelations that he makes are spit out as homilies, not horror shows. He wants to shock us with displays of graphic sex (well, less sex and more show) while never allowing us to see his multiple protagonists engage in anything more than bitchy, BOYS IN THE BAND-lite vindictiveness. Rechy makes several references to the filth of the bar, the garbage on the floor, which is much less than the ugliness of his characters. In THE COMING OF THE NIGHT he at least has a cross-representative collection of gay men in 1983, and maybe in condemning this book for lacking that I am missing his point entirely. When most people say "I'm no prude," that actually means they are, but seriously, I'm no prude, but I found some of the wanton acts and attitudes disgusting. The only redeeming aspect of this book is the sociological sliver that this book represents, but in the wrong hands this book is a blanket indictment of homosexuals, with no positive images or characters, giving our detractors the picture they've already painted in their head.

After seeing the reviews and reading so much about John Rechy's novels I feel that maybe I missed something that other readers 'got'. I found this novel to be confusing from the outset. He introduced too many characters and had them not only all talking to each other - but Rechy would also throw in tidbits of feelings and why this person felt the way he did. I found it difficult to keep track of who was talking to who! It seemed the entire book consisted mainly of these 4 people talking, talking. Too me the story didn't move anywhere. I finally started skimming the pages looking for something more that the unending conversation. Finally I read the last chapter in which the same characters were still conversing! Extremely disappointing and a time-waster!

Late 70's.Four men.Gay sex bar;Rushes.John Rechy approachs them brutaly,cooly,but gently.Yes,gently than amyl.And Rechy will leave readers feel unsubstantial.