A gang of four alienated teens raise cain all over El Paso, Texas in this, one of Rechy's earlier novels. The teens--a jaded rich girl; her two male friends; and the "fourth angel" who joins them, a young man recovering from his mother's death--turn to drugs and a little bit of the old ultraviolence to block out the pain of their lives.

As an examination of troubled youth, this novel sometimes plunges into the kind of cliches I associate with bad JD movies (emotionally wounded kids rebelling against hypocritical society, etc., etc.). But Rechy manages to create four vivid, distinct characters here; they're more complex than the street-corner nihilists they proclaim themselves to be--and that's exactly the point. Tight prose and a quick pace are additional assets. Though not as impressive as "City of Night," it's a readable book that hasn't dated much (except for the occasional "far out!" dialogue) since its initial publication in 1972, whereas Bret Easton Ellis' vaguely similar "Less Than Zero" feels lost in the '80s. It's worth reading.

I read this book in one sitting, although I hadn't intended to, just started reading and couldn't put it down. I was caught up in the lives of the beautiful girl and her three sexy male teenage partners--"angels"--who set out to stop feeling because they've been so hurt. It's a shattering book that you won't forget, one of Rechy's very best--and one of the best about teenagers ever. The scene at the end, at the Rio Grande, I'll never forget. These kids anger you, terrify you, and finally arouse your compassion.

Four teenagers, three boys and a girl, have been so wounded emotionally that they band together to learn how to stop feeling, and they trap themselves into dangerous sexual and violent games that finally force them to face themselves and each other. A shattering beautiful and disturbing novel of lost innocence.

John Rechy has been around for years and written many novels relating to life on the fringe. In Rushes he creates a dark forbidding and harsh world that repelled and excited this reader at various times. The characters are slightly cliche and generally not very nice. It is still a good read charged with high sexual tension and what now could be regarded as a histoical account of life in the late 1970's.

If you want to experience what a night in a leather bar and orgy room is like--the excitement as well as the harrowing part of it all--read this novel. It's more than that, though. It's an examination of of several gay men at the time when sexuality had reached a "dead end"--which is I guess why the book is set at the edge of the land, obviously New York. There's lots more going on here, with stations of the cross being evoked. It's a book to read carefully again.

I read this book fascinated by the sometimes brutal honesty with which Rechy depicts the ritual of bar-cruising, and halfway through I suspected that he was writing about much more. Why the opening chapter headings from the Latin Mass? As I moved in, I realized that throughout all the hot passages--and it is a very graphic novel set in a leather bar--Rechy was also structuring a mass, for full meaning of his intention. The ending is harrowing and unforgettable. This novel is on my top ten list.

I read this book while traveling on a long flight, and I had a hard time putting it down. I was aware of John Rechy, as an author, but this book allows us a view into Rechy the man, with his inner turmoil and obsessions. While it is true Rechy's books were autobiographical in nature, Charles Casillo provides insight from obviously many sessions with Rechy, as well as his peers and friends, that motivates the reader to want to read more of Rechy's works. The biography is well written and documented, and even began to challenge some of my own inner development and feelings. I found this a very fascinating and good read!

Before this biography, Rechy had attained the status of a mysterious literary legend. He kept his literary lfe separate from his private life, which included, even after the success of his classic "City of Night," almost nightly incursions into the world of hustling, sex in exchange for money. In the meantime he continued to amass a body of work that, as he boldly boasts (there is nothing modest about Rechy's pronouncements about himself, and the gallery of photographs included emphasize that), can stand up to that of any other writer today. Casillo's biography reveals many tantalizng aspects of Rechy's life, particularly his childhood and early years. That is where the book is strongest, and some passages are very poignant. He's also very good toward the end of the book when delving into Rechy's literary accoplishments. His close retelling of Rechy's earlier novels, including "City of Night," "Numbers," "The Sexual Outlaw," ETC., will probably send readers back to the original thinly disguised novels by Rechy himself, especially when Casillo often quotes long passages from those books, letting Rechy tell his story in his own words. Casillo does a good job of exploring Rechy's lesser known books, revealing the wide range of this writer. This is a very good and highly readable book, at times somewhat sketchy (the reader may want to know even more), but for all that it is a welcome exploration of Rechy's life as a child and his life as a hustler, while allowing him his deserved status as a writer.

I'm a long time fan of John Rechy's controversial novels and I think part of my fascination with his books is that he was a male prostitute before he started writing. Because Rechy has always been somewhat mysterious I've been looking forward to this biography ever since I first heard about it. Now having read the book I'm happy to say that Rechy has a worthy biographer. "Outlaw" is a truly dazzling biography. The book manages to be daring, serious, juicy, and literary. Casillo has obviously done an enormous amount of research and he finds just the right balance in telling the story of a complicated man who certainly seems to have lived more than one life (and had more than one career) The biographer tells Rechy's story in an very engrossing style, yet he knows when to step back and let the people in Rechy's life pick up the narrative. He sometimes let's Rechy do the talking, and then he adds Rechy's own writing from his novels to round out the biography. The result is a full and fascinating portrait. Casillo doesn't love Rechy and he doesn't hate him. Yes, he respects him, but he fearlessly delves into Rechy's life, carefully picking through his childhood, his relationships, his life on the streets, his work, his friends, and he tells his story, warts and all. Rechy comes across as an extremely talented writer with some striking sexual hangups and some serious emotional damage, all of which feeds into his literary genius. If you're looking for a general answer to the question, "Why do some boys grow up to be male prostitutes" you won't find it here. Instead the book explores the soul of one complicated man who breaks the mold on all fronts. For me, the most fascinating part of the biography is the telling of the stories behind Rechy's controversial novels, so for the first time we get a sense of Rechy's work process: how he became inspired, how he used his life in his writing. But truthfuly I enjoyed the book from cover to cover, including the great photographs of Rechy in his prime.

This is magical realism at its best. There's a dream-like quality to the novel, and yet it is very clear at the same time, in retelling the stories of sexual women blamed unjustly. What a twist the author puts on the story of Medea--a compassionate portrait--and even Adam and Eve--and even Mary Magdalene as she witnesses the lives of Jesus and Judas. It's so beautifully written you don't want to put it down. I don't know why I hadn't even heard about this novel until years after a friend of mine told me about it.

All I can say about this novel, which I hadn't heard about until someone told me it was written by the author of "The Sexual Outlaw" and "City of Night," is that it is brilliant, magical and tough as it goes about retelling famous stories about women who have been branded because of sexual encounters, and about their equally infamous men. I'll never forget the retelling of Medea--wonderful--and then there's the hilarious story of why the Trojan war was "really" fought. And all of it is told in terrific prose, magical.

What a find this novel was; I had associated the author with "City of Night" and "The Sexual Outlaw" and was surprised that he had dealt with such a range of subjects, like here and in "The Miraculous Day of Amalia Gomez" (a moving novel about a Mexican woman in L.A. today, discovering harsh truths about her children--I quickly read that one after I read this one). So I hadn't expected anything like this--about notorious women and men in legend and history. Rechy retells their stories (including the story of Adam and Eve, as they discover sex for the first time!!), and they're funny and sad, very sexy, prose beautifully written. It's also very mysterious as it moves from life to life; there's even a Peacock that's a character; and the story of Jesus, Judas, and Magdalene is unforgettable. How strange that hardly anyone I know had heard of this novel when I mention it. Was it too daring?

I read this book after reading the author's "City of Night," and I think this one is just as good. What is surprising is that the novel is some 30 years old--five years older than I am--and yet it's all still true, and I related to it entirely, the sex-hunting when it becomes obsessive, and although the author conveys it all with excitement, there're also a lot of warnings you can find that are entirely timely for our time, warnings about when sex takes over. Rechy doesn't gloss over anything. But beyond all that, the story of Johnny Rio is one I'll never forget, and, for all his narcissism, I ended up liking the main character a lot--yes, and worrying about him. Did I mention that the novel is excellently written, at times stark, at times poetic, and really suspenseful in a strange way.

What continues to make people so angry about this novel? I kept wondering when I'd talk to people who'd read it--and even some who hadn't. Even those who loved it seemed to be disturbed by it. I know why now. It's a startling, honest look at a world people prefer to wish away--the world of gay sex-hunting. Most of the book takes place in a vast park in Los Angeles--and a terrific and accurate scene on Venice Beach!--but it is more than just a series of sexual encounters. It becomes a quest for meaning, played out in a sexual arena. Johnny Rio, the narcissitic protagonist, emerges finally as a memorable character, as do, with surprising power, the many nameless men he connects with throughout his 10-day odyssey of sex. Amazingly there is also a lot of humor in the book, in its complete honesty. At the end, it becomes, also, a symbolic journey of survival. The ending is both beautiful, sad, and inevitable--and Rechy writes prose like a poet.

I read this book out of curiosity because I had heard so much about it. Some people loved it, and others couldn't stop putting it down--very passionately. I wondered why. Now I know. It pulls no punches in exploring a narcisstic gay male exploring a cruising park in Los Angeles and discovering himself, from one sexual adventure to another. I was amazed at how funny the book is at times--especially a scene at the beach with a bodybuilder who can't be big enough. It's also surprisingly moving, and some parts are written like poetry. I guess some readers just don't want to look at certain worlds frankly--and for the unique richness within them. This book does.