Skydiving on Christopher Street [Paperback]

Stan Leventhal (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The narrator of this gritty, slice-of-life novel, a young gay man, is an editor for a porn publishing house. We follow him through his daily routine and see his life story unfurl in a series of flashbacks. We are with him when he learns from his doctor that he has AIDS and then reveals this to his current lover, with whom he is breaking up. The author gives us a taste of the gay life on Christopher Street-before AIDS and as it is now, changed but still vibrant. The dialog is laced with a sharp humor and is right on the mark; the narrator and his friends become very real to the reader as we experience his joys, his pains, and his acceptance of who he is-"My life is what I've made of it." We have met someone we care about and have had a glimpse of what it is like to be gay in the 1990s. Suitable for mature high school readers on up, this book is recommended for most contemporary fiction collections.
Howard E. Miller, Alliance Blue Cross & Blue Shield Lib., St. Louis
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Generosity, evenness, fairness to the reader, sensitivity these are qualities that most contemporary writers take for granted or overrule with stylistics. In Leventhal's writing they not only stand out, they're positively addictive.

Aside from a hateful job, a hateful apartment, a hateful world and an inc reasingly hateful lover, life seems, well, all right for the protagonist of Stan Leventhal's latest novel. Having already lost most of his frien ds to AIDS, how could things get any worse? But things soon do, and he's s forced to endure much more before finding a new strength. --

Product Details

• Paperback: 225 pages
• Publisher: Masquerade Books; 1st Hard Candy ed edition (March 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563332876
• ISBN-13: 978-1563332876
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,519,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Challenges to a Gay Life in the Early 1990s, August 4, 2000

By 

Seth J Bookey - See all my reviews

This review is from: Skydiving on Christopher Street (Paperback)

Stan Leventhal's novel gives a fairly accurate depiction of what it was like to be a gay man of the Baby Boomer/Sexual Revolution generation in Manhattan in the early 1990s. Stuck in a going-nowhere relationship and living in a tiny apartment in the West Village, the narrator (whose name is never mentioned, or at least it is not mentioned often) has to come to terms with being HIV+, after having lost many close friends himself. The book is an interesting glimpse that should have been a lot longer. But, it is the last writing Leventhal did before his own death. Some aspects of the story seem awfully abbreviated, especially the narrators very quick acceptance of his HIV+ status (there are many other better books on that topic). But, Leventhal touches on a lot of challenges facing a gay New Yorker of his generation in the early 1990s: bad bosses, alienation from heterosexual siblings, issues with parents, gentrification, and losses on many levels. The writing styles change from one chapter to the next, but it's a quick read and not unworthwhile, as the protagonist faces his problems and manages to keep optimism in sight.

Leventhal's legacy to gay fiction: helping found the Pat Parker/Vito Russo Library at the Lesbian and Gay Community Service Center in NYC.