Growing up with Legends : A Literary Memoir

Rating:
Summary: Lively, Informative, Revealing
Review: This is a thoroughly enjoyable book, one that makes you hope it had been longer, especially because some of the people Wright writes about are viewed so briefly, and yet so sharply, that you want more. The glimpse of John Rechy is enticing. In a few lines, Wright captures this unique writer for those telling moments. The portraits of Tennessee Williams and others are sharp and entertaining; and Gavin Lambert! What a creation he is. Congratulations, Mr. Wright, for your lively memoir!

Rating:
Summary: Contemplating legends
Review: This memoir is rich, varied, and readable. For some, the most interesting sections will be the character sketches of Tennessee Williams, Christopher Isherwood, and Paul Bowles, all of whom Wright knew well. My favorites are the passages about Tennessee Williams. Wright tells us more about him than some long biographies do. He also offers original perspectives on that enigmatic figure, Bowles. Wright has a gift for perceptive insights about people. He also has an acute sense of place and a talent for evoking locales. His conjuring up of various cities (for instance 1948-1950 New York) and the travel sections (for instance, descriptions of several Amazonian expeditions) are well done, as expected from a writer of literary travel books. One leaves the book feeling entertained by many stories, and the array of Wright's friends and acquaintances. Meanwhile--with a genial, humorous, eloquent, and scrupulously honest man as host--the reader has learned a great deal about Twentieth Century gay history and some Twentieth Century American writers.