Numbers

by John Rechy

Book Overview

Book jacket/back: Johnny Rio, a handsome narcissist but no longer a pretty boy, travels to Los Angeles, the site of past sexual conquest and remembered youthful radiance, in a frenzied attempt to recreate his younger self. Johnny has ten precious days to draw the numbers, the men who will confirm his desirability, and with the hungry focus of a man on borrowed time, he stalks the dark balconies of all-night theaters, the hot sands of gay beaches,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802151981
• ISBN13: 9780802151988
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Such Is Life

This book is true if you'll read Rechy's autobiography recently out. And this is the way that many gay men led their lives. Many still do probably. And Rechy is still alive to write and tell about it. Of course he was passive. I wondered if he ever got any venereal diseases then. He doesn't say. I suppose many people would be disgusted by this book, but I've read other books that are disgusting. Seems anything gets printed these days. I don't know if it has any socially redeeming value but was an interesting book to read.

Pathological Cruising

I've recently re-read this book and it's a great story of pathological cruising for gay sex. It's a short, intense look at the gay world pre-AIDS and some of the problems that gay men faced at that time. It's not as good as "City of Night" but it's worth a read especially if you are gay.

For younger gay men, too

"Numbers" is a very honest depiction of the sex life of many urban gay men. With unsafe sex on the rise, it's still relevant to our times.

Bloody Good Reading

If you are able to love Soft Cell's "Numbers",this is your book.But you can't understand unless you once did experience THE youth.