In Tongues
"wondering if my reckless impulses would ever settle down. Thought, too, about what might still change for me, what would stay the same." - Thomas Grattan
This is a moving portrait of a young gay man making his way in New York City, accompanied by an interesting network of friends and acquaintances. The story drew me in right away in a way that similar gay fiction has rarely done for me. This was in part because the narrator reminded me of Philip Carey in Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage, one of my favorite novels.
It is a perceptive examination of class, family, and gay men's inheritance across generations. Gordon, the main character, is a twenty-four-year-old man who was raised in Minneapolis by discordant working-class parents. He leaves for New York City in 2001, just before the 9/11 attacks, after being dumped by his boyfriend, using $200 he stole from him. He eventually secures a job walking dogs for the wealthy Philip and Nicola, the owners of an art gallery. They quickly requested that he work as their personal assistant. The author uses this couple to illustrate the way of life of the extremely wealthy. While Philip is aloof and patrician, Nicola, the younger member of the couple, appears to be resentful of Gordon's presence. Before he makes a mistake that will end the close bond between the three of them, Gordon still has a lot to learn about navigating the complexities of their sophisticated lives.
For the majority of the book, Gordon is reckless and impish. However, he slowly matures, while his memories of his early misadventures continue to bother him. Gordon's voice is dark, humorous, and ultimately reprimanding, making him a remarkable narrator. Though Gordon learns to control himself rather than wreaking more havoc, the book builds on the self-absorbed, occasionally cruel protagonists similar to those of Edmund White's earlier works.
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