John Rechy - Hustlers & Freaks

Wow, Karl! I just rediscovered Rechy myself about a year and a half ago and bought the backlog of his work used from Amazon at that time. He really nails that world and those times exactly, but unfortunately his work is often overlooked at least here on the East Coast, I guess because most of it, except for a very brief part of "City Of Night" deals with a long-vanished gay L.A.-- cruising Pershing Square, Selma Avenue, Griffith Park. It is the forgotten city of Ramon Navarro, Sal Mineo, and the mysterious Bob Crane murder. Jim Morrison mentions the title in the lyrics of "L.A. Woman". Definitely legendary.
I have to definitely also recommend "The Coming Of The Night", a sort of sequel to the whole thing written in 1981, when awareness of AIDS was just dawning on everyone. And "Rushes", which is set in the Mineshaft. As well as Rechy's biography, "Outlaw" written by Charlie Castillo.

When I first got together with those "youngsters" of Blacklips in the early 1990's I was amazed to discover that they too appreciated Rechy's work. And so we staged versions of some of it-- "The Vampires" adapted by Poison Eve, and "Miss Destiny's Fabulous Wedding" by myself. It was a dream come true for me.

There is also Rechy's own site:

johnrechy.com

An interesting footnote about Samuel R. Delaney... for years he lived in an apartment building on East 5th Street. Called "The Mildred," and named I guess by the builder after either his wife or daughter, the building was also the residence of those legendary Pyramid queens, Hapi Phace and (still) Tabboo!

Thanks for the reply. His work is defiantly overlooked, perhaps still suffering from the incorrect original impression that he was a hustler who happed to be able to write rather then a writer who happed to hustle. "Outlaw" is on my radar but I'm waiting until I get through all of his books to read the bio. I've been warned (perhaps unfairly?) that it is a bit of a glowing bio written by an ardent admirer as opposed to being a more objective view. In any case, I'm sure it will be interesting. Rechy's 70 now and apparently still going strong - an impressive feat in itself for someone who has lived so fully and uncompromisingly. (www.johnrechy.com)
I actually saw Delany one day on 46th Street - he's so easy to spot with that distinctive beard. For some reason I didn't stop him to say introduce myself which I sort of regret now. Anyway, I'm sure I'm bound to run into him again since we seem to have similar interests. :-O

Karl, you whore!
How's my favorite sister Xtravaganza?
So that's where you've been...
reading dirty books. Thanks for posting this. I can see I've got a lot of reading to do if I ever want to be in the same room with you and Hattie.

Ah yes, "A hustler who happens to write..." And if I remember correctly, Rechy himself contributed to that perception by remaining rather anonymous at first-- lending creedence to the myth that he was some sort of idiot savant. And then he began making appearances wearing that "hustler uniform"-- jeans, white T-shirt, leather jacket & boots-- which served to confirm the public's perception.
Another problem was that he viewed his writing as an experiment and so refused to stick to any formula and each of his books is different. Which did not go over well with the Mass Market bunch.

There is a story that Rechy sought out the writer Sam Steward, tracked him down and slept with him-- in order to have the "literary torch" passed to him. Steward was a confrere of Gertrude Stein, a former tattoo artist, and the author of quite a few autobiograhical erotic short stories under the name "Phil Andros." They were reprinted in the 1980s. If you can get any of Steward's work, which is hard to find nowadays, I highly recommend it. He also wrote several "serious" books under his own name-- one called something like "Bad Boys & Tattoos" and one called "Understanding The Male Hustler." Both are classics as are the Andros stories.

Hattie - Love the idea of the passing of the "torch" - so to speak. And thanks for adding to my research material. I'll be on the lookout for Steward/Andros material.

Daddy - "Reading? Now you want to talk about reading..."

Time: 1971 Place: New York City Me: 19...John Rechy: about 39-40 yrs old. west side highway..covered pier...hot sex and bondage and me asking afterward.." Who are you?" He told me he was a writer and that I was a hustler waiting to happen. I was already a hustler and a writer waiting to happen. Phil Andros ( Sam Steward) was an incredibly hot man with a funny little limp and just a hint of a lisp. Only met him once and never saw or heard of him again until this moment. Hatches you never cease to amaze me. And ALL of Rechy's books really do capture the time so accurately. It's interesting that after all these years young guys are reading his work. Happy to hear that he's still with us.

Well, there it is... that torch being passed once again! Really Bobby, I'm not surprised. I always remember the first time I heard you read your iconic "MY LIFE AS I REMEMBER IT" at one of the first (or maybe the first) Verbal Abuse. And those feet are still carrying you...

Oh don't get him going!

Oh Daddy...Remember when we stood in the shade being fanned by the nubians while they laid the first stones of the Pyramid at Giza...Ah..it seems like yesterday. Steamroller!

HEY!
I go back to "The Middle Kingdom"...
OK, early "Middle Kingdom" but the first stones at Giza was before my time!
Ask Hattie.
But we digress.
(as usual when I come into the room).
So I'll leave and let you smart people get on with it.

OK Hattie, because I trust ya', I just bought a bunch of Phil Andros books: The Boys In Blue, Parisian Lives, Stud: A Novel, Understanding the Male Hustler, The Joy Spot, Different Stokes, and Roman Conquests.

Book reports to follow.

Ah, Parisian Lives is the actual autobiography I think.
I am not sure which book, but one (it may even be $tud) involves a biracial gay love affair in 1963 that takes place in Dallas, with all of the expected difficulties. One of the tenants in their boarding house is a man they think is named Harvey Lee. In the last chapter, they are leaving to start a new life in Chicago, and happen to glance out of the train window and see a bit of frantic activity in the area around the Texas Book Depository... anyway, it actually reads much better than I am telling it, and the Kennedy stuff is incidental to the story line, but very well put together. And quite an acomplishment for a bunch of stories written for the stroke book audience.

I am glad his books are still available, though. It's not every author that can give you a bit of gay history and a boner at the same time!