City of Night

Grove Press, New York, 1964. 16mo. The novel is a frank account of the adventures of a male hustler who wanders restlessly around the country in the late 1950s, turning tricks as much for self-affirmation as for money, and scrupulously avoiding any romantic attachment. The book is partly a travelogue, offering a pano-rama of the gay underworld in (chiefly) New York, L.A., and New Orleans, and partly a portrait gallery, with little cameos of clients (“johns”), other hustlers, and drag queens.  Stated first paperback edition, preceded by the 1963 hardcover. First printing assumed with not additional printings indicated. Black pictorial softcover lettered in red and white, red edges, Chipping to bottom of front cover. 380pp.