"A passionate outcry against the oppression of homosexuals, this is the author's 6th book and first work of non-fiction. John Rechy calls this angry documentary "a non-fiction account, with commentaries, of three days and nights in the sexual underground." It is set in parks, alleys, tunnels, garages, streets and beaches of contemporary Los Angeles and its immediate environs--the "battlefield" of the sexual outlaw who brings a sense of choreography, ritual and mystery to the sex hunt."The Sexual Outlaw" has three distinct, but smoothly interwoven, elements to bring into sharp focus the scene of the committed homosexual, the sexual outlaw who lives on the very edge of American society. The first tells the story of a single shattering weekend in the life of Jim, a sometime male hustler; the second consists of documentary sections, some blackly funny, that uncover the insanity and agony of the oppression visited upon the homosexual minority; and, finally, there are personal statements and resentments by the author dramatizing Rechy's own developed sexual identity and mature political awareness. Rechy brilliantly cuts back and forth among these three elements, using cinematic terminology and forms to take the reader on an excursion of a subculture of our cities still hidden from our view, and to show what it is really like in the "gay" underworld. This stylized intermixture of forms and voices, history and drama, eroticism and ideas, rage and humor, makes for fascinating reading with an appeal in no way limited by its explosive subject matter." -- From the author's website.
I'm selecting these books by how much they reflect this city, and this book, while shocking to some, fully captures an aspect of Los Angeles, and it's incredibly well-written.
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