Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0802116507, Hardcover)

On its debut, John Rechy's City of Night was a huge sensation and an international bestseller. In The Coming of the Night Rechy returns to some of the themes and scenes of his now-classic first novel. A stunning evocation of gay desire in the moment just before AIDS, this book confirms the author's position as America's preeminent gay novelist. It is 1981, a summer night, and an unscripted ritual is about to take place. Jesse, "the kid," is celebrating one year on the dazzling gay scene, and plans to lose himself completely in the transient pleasures it affords. Clint has fled New York with a sense of unease in the wake of a vicious gay-bashing and a night in the sexual underground. Buzz and his gang are cruising the city looking for danger. So is Dave, a "leatherman" devoted to S&M and testing limits. And in the streets a priest is searching for a young hustler named Angel, determined to bring him to Jesus. As the Santa Ana winds, renowned for stirring up desires and violence, breathe fire down the hills of Los Angeles, these and a cast of other characters circle ever closer to the night - and to a confrontation as astonishing as it is inevitable. "Fresh, beautiful, totally courageous - and totally cool, passionate.... His uncompromising honesty as a gay writer has provoked as much fear as admiration.... John Rechy doesn't fit into categories. He transcends them. His individual vision is unique, perfect, loving, and strong." - Carolyn See, presenting the PEN-USA West's Lifetime Achievement Award