After NIRVana

by Lee Williams

Book Overview

A stark, poetic post-grunge debut novel in the tradition of John Rechy's landmark gay novel, City of Night, After Nirvana exposes a generation of disaffected kids -- America's underside and worst nightmare come to life.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688152155
• ISBN13: 9780688152154
• Release Date: October 1997
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

I Can't Stop Thinking About This Book

Sometimes you read a book, and it never leaves you. Well, I can't get this book out of my mind. It was just so good because it was so 90s, so post-grunge, so my generation. Who can't relate to listening a worn tape of Bleach through your headphones? This is THE book for anyone who remembers what it was like right after punk broke.

Fascinating, disturbing--and heartbreaking

I picked up this book off my local bookshop's shelves because "Williams" happens to be shelved right near "Wodehouse" where I was browsing. To confess, I bought it because of the cover illustration and because the page I happened to flip open to sounded pretty wild.I began reading and wasn't sure if this was something I'd be interested in or not: the bleak story of a group of post-grunge losers and their grim lives as street hustlers. Coming from my background, I couldn't exactly relate to the drugs, the dialog, the situations, the music even. I've been to Portland several times where the story is set, and was fascinated by Williams's vivid detail about locations. But the whole thing seemed like one of those depressing stories about lost "Gen-X'ers" from the evening news.But imagine my shock at finding that--even through all the sordid bath house and park sex, the acid trips, and the frightening relationships--I loved the main characters and really cared about what happened to them. Surprisingly, there was quite a bit of highly-charged, romantic eroticism to offset the down-and-dirty park tricks. The scene near the end with Branch and the kid-kid made me physically ill in the stomach. I spent the last several chapters crying.After Nirvana had a profound effect on me. With all the shock of kids having to live such a base and unfeeling existence, the few scenes of actual love and affection between Davy and James or Davy and Nikki were extremely touching and totally heartbreaking. I wish I could see what happened next after page 227 was finished.Lee Williams's writing is about as far from P.G. Wodehouse's as is possible. But this book is one that I will never forget and one that I am so glad to have read. I can't recommend it more highly, but be careful--it's pretty tragic and it'll probably make you cry too.

A Hard, Fast trip on a road that leads to love.

From page one I couldn't put this novel down. It's an incredible story of 5 troubled kids living on the streets. They basically hustler for a living, but the main character, Davy, is a beautiful character. Through his eyes, we see the sordid world around him, but it is a world not devoided of love. His love for Nikki, and then James, is a poignant one. There sexaul encounters are steamy and surreal, but what is most interesting is the power play between Davy and Branch. Branch is nihilistic and a violent character. He wants to be the ring leader of the group while Davy and James just want each other. When James left towards the end, it was very sad, Davy was crying. Felt bad for him, but the ending is very existential, which I love. A symbol of love that could be just around the corner, and the breaking away from Branch was great. A MUST READ!!!!!!

My Reactions:

My best friend introduced me to this book and once I started it, i couldn't put it down. It was like I was there, with the narrator, while he was telling me this story of his life with Branch, Jody, Nicki, and James and i felt as if for a short period of time, I was there with them. It let me reach inside and touch something that I never knew was there

this was SUCH a great book

i suggest EVERYONE read this book it was sooooo cool.