From Library Journal
A continuation of Burning Houses (LJ 7/86), this novel sends the homosexual Englishman Charles Hallam to New York in search of the truth about his relationship with the charismatic "upper-class bum" Richard Hughes. Retold through letters, Richard's destructive life, from mental breakdown to dream vision to marriage, not only leads Charles to maturity but becomes a "web of memory . . . that suffers time and the changes of the ego." Charles's romanticization of Richard "as the perfect friend" is countered by the sardonic wit of the aging transvestite Adolphe, obsessed with death in Paris, and by rapturous Anna, who flees to India in search of the mandala of life. Beneath these interrelated strands of satire and mysticism is an undercurrent of waste at the distracted wanderings of these improbable, brilliant characters. Frank Allen, Assoc. Dean, Continuing Education, Allentown Coll., Center Valley, Pa.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
