BOOKS: SEX AND INTIMACY BETWEEN MEN'.
By Garth Greenwell
Wisely, Greenwell has returned to the same setting that made his debut novel What Belongs To You so distinctive: Sofia, Bulgaria. It’s a country that rarely makes the news and many would be vague about its geographic location. Part of the appeal of both books is that we see a city and country through the author’s eyes.
It’s a country where attitudes towards LGBTI people are not very evolved. In one story, the narrator takes part in a political protest through Sofia. A small number of LGBTI friends also protest and identify themselves with rainbow flags. They are attacked by their fellow marchers for being gay. In another story, reference is made to a priest who advocated throwing rocks at gay people.
The book is a collection of inter-connected stories, all featuring the same unnamed main character, an American teacher and writer, who seems to closely resemble Greenwell himself. What is refreshing and distinctive about Cleanness is that it is very sex positive and explicit for a book published by a major American publisher.
Many books try to reach the widest possible market so there isn’t too much to startle the non-gay reader, but here we have plenty that might be eye-popping! The second story Gospodar (roughly translated as master) details a sexual encounter that is brutal and escalates towards assault and yet is intoxicatingly pleasurable.
But Greenwell can also depict love with tenderness. In the opening story, a student confides to the narrator his same-sex desires for his best friend. Later, the narrator details a love affair with a student from Portugal that, seemingly, can have no long-term future.
Greenwell has confirmed his talents with this follow-up book. This is edgy, intelligent and intensely candid writing about sex, desire and intimacy between men.
LOT: Stories by Bryan Washington
This debut collection of stories was released a year ago and has distinguished itself in 2019’s Best Book Of The Year wrap-ups. It was hailed as one of The New York Times Notable Books of 2019 and was also selected by Barrack Obama as one of his favourite books of the year.
It’s easy to see why. One of the book’s longest stories, at almost 40 pages, Waugh is a small masterpiece of tragedy. It tells the story of six male sex workers, living together in a one-bedroom apartment: “they worked the same bars, the same apps, hustled the same set of clubs”.
They were led by Rod, who laid down the rules of the house and kept things decent. And “though Rod kept tabs on all his boys… he kept Poke a little closer”. It is this special bond between Rod and Poke that becomes so moving when one of these two young men is diagnosed with HIV and, as per the rules of the house, are obliged to leave.
The setting for the stories is Houston, Texas and it roams the impoverished neighbourhoods of the city, revealing the lives of those struggling to get by as violence, homelessness and drug addiction threaten.
Half the stories focus on the same character, the gay teenage son of a black mother and a philandering Latino father. And it is this view of queer, working class, people of colour and the muted acceptance or outright rejection they experience that is one of the book’s most distinctive features.
ROYALS By Emma Forrest
David Nicholls has described this novel as “an ’80s Breakfast At Tiffany’s”. Eighteen-yearold Steven falls under the spell of Jasmine, a captivating heiress.
The characters seem, in part, inspired by designer Alexander McQueen and Isabelle Blow. They meet in hospital. He’s been beaten up by his violent, alcoholic father; she’s recovering from another suicide attempt. Steven dreams of being a fashion designer and, despite his working-class origins, has such raw talent he seems destined to succeed.
He may also be gay, though he’s not entirely sure. Jasmine is his muse – inspiring, encouraging and enabling him to succeed. Certainly, she has the wealth to widen his horizons, whisking him off to Paris on a whim.
The book opens with the wedding of Charles and Diana which “unfolded with the precision of an accordion-pleated shirt” and Steven, his mama and the neighbours celebrate with a street party, doing “unfathomable things like dancing around the maypole”. Then Steven’s father puts an end to the frivolity with his resentful drunken violence.
The novel is a frothy, enjoyable read with a keen eye for the fashions and finer details of the 1980s, although darker themes are also explored and the climax is surprisingly sobering.
Cleanness is edgy, intelligent and intensely candid writing about sex, desire and intimacy between men.