A review by sturgeonfish
City of Night by John Rechy

4.5

fantastic.... absolutely engrossing and unique writing style and all of the characters are so so vivid. the narrator feels gradually more like a 'person' and character himself throughout the story, in perfect timing and pace with the story. the afterward where john rechy said everyone was based off a real person he met and each new reader to the book brought them back to life brought me to tears.

i love how some things are left answered and some unanswered in his final musings... we never know what really happened to ms destiny but the malenurse was indeed in love with the professor. and the way the writing style changed to finally describe the sex he was having and how it excited him when he finally accepted he was gay. the duality of his drunk and sober self when his reality split in two... augh! so many beautifully written callbacks to earlier scenes, like chi-chi being dead on for that female elephant with all of her enviable 'male' physique and strength while choosing femininity ... wow. stunning stunning layers of meaning to unpack in this book for sure