Writer, born in El Paso, Texas, USA. He studied at the University of Texas, El Paso (BA), and at the New School for Social Research, New York City. He taught creative writing at several institutions and lived in Los Angeles and New York City. His novels primarily dealt with the search for love and identity by homosexual and bisexual characters, as in City of Night (1963) and Bodies and Souls (1983).
Novels and other works
Rechy is the author of the following novels and other works:
City of Night (Grove Press, 1963) Numbers (Grove Press, 1967) This Day's Death (Grove Press, 1969) The Vampires (Grove Press, 1971) The Fourth Angel (Viking, 1972) The Sexual Outlaw (Grove Press, 1977) (non-fiction) Rushes (Grove Press, 1979) Bodies and Souls (Carroll & Graf, 1988) The Miraculous Day of Amalia Gomez (Arcade, 1991) Our Lady of Babylon (Arcade, 1996) The Coming of the Night (Grove Press, 1999) The Life and Adventures of Lyle Clemens (Grove Press, 2003) Beneath the Skin (Carroll & Graf, 2004)City of Night
According to Rechy, "City of Night began as a letter to a friend of mine after I had been to New Orleans.
Numbers
In Numbers, the protagonist seeks to convince himself that he is desirable, if not loved, by the sheer numbers of men who bed him;
This Day's Death
This Day's Death looks at a man whose dying mother and humiliating trial leave him with nothing left to lose but his dignity and passion .
The Fourth Angel
Three 16-year-old 'angels" recruit another, the same age, and together, they play wicked games with bums, deviants, and each other, mindful that, in the cold, hard world of The Fourth Angel, only the fittest--or cruelest--survive .
The Sexual Outlaw
The Sexual Outlaw is a non-fiction work on the devastating effects of homophobia .
Rushes
Rushes recounts the stories of the patrons of a gay bar on the waterfront of a large, anonymous city.
Bodies and Souls
Through vignettes of various characters, Rechy examines the seamy underside of modern Los Angeles in Bodies and Souls.
Marilyn's Daughter
At age 18, Normalyn discovers that she may be the daughter of Marilyn Monroe and Bobby Kennedy.
The Miraculous Day of Amalia Gomez
In seeing the huge silver cross in the blue sky over Hollywood, has Amalia Gómez seen a miracle?
Other works
Rechy has also written essays that have been anthologized in Beneath the Skin and several plays, including Tigers Wild (first performed as The Fourth Angel).
He has contributed essays and reviews to The Nation, the The New York Review of Books, the Los Angeles Times Book Review, L. Weekly, The Village Voice, and The New York Times Books.
Awards
Rechy is the first novelist to receive PEN-USA-West's Lifetime Achievement Award;
User Comments Add a comment…