Escape from New York in post-Stonewall gay fiction

Abstract

The chapter explores a paradoxical phenomenon portrayed in gay fiction. Despite the widespread image of gay men coming from rural areas to New York, a substantive portion of gay fiction gives quite an opposite image, that of gays escaping New York. Andrew Holleran's Dancer from the Dance (1978) and Michael Cunningham's A Home at the End of the World (1990) are analyzed in detail.