This is the new Tom Wolfe novel I've been waiting for since "Bonfire of the Vanities," even though it's not a novel and Tom Wolfe didn't write it. This vivid recounting of battles waged by a group of New York's homeless is a hilarious page-turner, not what you would expect. Author John Jiler, a freelance writer for the Village Voice, writes first-hand about events he lived, and fills the book with deeply known, extraordinary characters, in Quixotic combat with New York Mayor Ed Koch. The unwelcome residents of "Kochville," a park across the street from City Hall, come together for an overnight vigil in pouring rain, and stay together week after week to create a community for themselves and each other which none of them even dreamed possible. Great reading!

John Jiler's Dark Wind transports you to Fire Island, an infamous island known for its wild gay lifestyle, and keeps you riveted in place as Hurricane Gloria surges toward it. Jiler's use of language is creative, colorful and nimble, and his "New Journalism" technique of creating a novel-like vehicle is well-chosen. The characters are vivid and we care about what happens to them. Suspense is maintained and then justified as the hurricane hits the defenseless island. The reader may be surprised to find that Fire Islanders are not all gay; in fact, an entire section of the island is home to straight, but equally colorful characters. If you like to be transported by a book, one that will keep you turning the pages long after you should have gone to bed, you'll love Dark Wind.