ESSENTIAL NY READING
Faggots by Larry Kramer
Biting, boundary- pushing and brimming with black humour, Larry Kramer’s Faggots ranks as one of the most pioneering novels in the queer literary canon. Published in 1978, the sexual satire is set in New York preAids crisis and follows Fred Lemish on his quest to find love before he turns 40, a search that takes him from bathhouses to the pines of Fire Island.
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Taking home the 1999 Pulitzer Prize, Michael Cunningham’s bona fide masterpiece puts an inspired spin on Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, charting the lives of three women decades apart. These include Woolf herself in the 1920s; a pregnant Forties housewife; and, in modernday New York, lesbian editor Clarissa Vaughan, who is planning a party in honour of an Aids- stricken friend.
A Little Life by Hanya
Yanagihara
Hanya Yanagihara’s 2015 best- seller should come with a flood warning because of the tide of tears it is guaranteed to trigger. A Little Life delves into the friendship of four New Yorkers: artist JB, architect Malcolm, aspiring actor Willem and our main protagonist, Jude, an enigmatic lawyer with a deeply troubling past. A heart- breaking, but essential read.
The Catcher In The Rye by JD
Salinger
A real “bucket list” book, JD Salinger’s 1951 coming- of- age tale tags along with privileged teenager Holden Caulfield after he has just been kicked out of yet another private school.
Not wanting to face his parents, our alienated, older- than- his- years narrator roams the streets of the city that never sleeps seeking distraction — and he certainly gets his wish during an encounter with a bunch of pimps… A timeless tome.
American Psycho by Bret
Easton Ellis
Patrick Bateman ticks all the boxes: he is hot, earns a packet as a highflyer on Wall Street, and can reserve a table at the Big Apple’s hottest restaurants at a moment’s notice. However, there is a slight catch. The man is a psychopath with an all- too- literal axe to grind ( shudder). Hitting shelves back in 1991, this modern classic will thrill and chill in equal measure.