Traitor to the Race: 2 - Hardcover

Scott, Darieck

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0525939121 ISBN 13: 9780525939122

Publisher: Dutton Adult, 1995

Synopsis

When a boyhood friend is brutally raped and murdered, a dreamy, unemployed New York actor is forced to confront his homosexuality, his guilt about keeping a white lover, and his uneasy relations with other black men. A first novel. 15,000 first printing. Tour.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

The tenuous distinction between the real and self-imagined lives of a biracial gay couple is thrust into sharp relief by a brutal murder in this frank, lean debut. Kenneth Gabriel, an unemployed black actor, shares a small apartment in New York City with his white companion, Evan Marcialis, a regular on soap operas. During Evan's long days at work, Kenneth frequents Central Park, where he invents elaborate fantasies about random passersby, or sits at home and dreams up bizarre episodes of the TV series Bewitched. The couple's relationship fractures when each man experiences a sudden moment of self-revelation. The violent rape and slaying by whites of Kenneth's closeted cousin and early lover causes him to question his allegiance to Evan, while Evan is surprised and alarmed by his own failure to respond to bigoted insinuations about his lover. When Kenneth organizes the novel's climactic "dance riot" to draw attention to his cousin's death, he and Evan are forced to revisit explosive issues they had once believed settled, including race, homophobia, sexuality and political activism. Through his insightful and appealing portrait of Kenneth, Scott gives voice to a constituency rarely heard from. His sex scenes, though frequent, are well crafted, and he handles his complex narrative-a kaleidoscope of first- and third-person vignettes-with aplomb. Scott undercuts the power of his story by tackling too many issues, any one of which could have served as his sole focus, but nonetheless he has written a provocative novel that is unafraid to examine volatile questions of sex and race.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The brutal rape and murder of his cousin provokes a crisis for Kenneth Gabriel, an unemployed black actor. The murder awakens long-dormant feelings of guilt, rage, and self-loathing, which mostly focus on Evan Marcialis?blond star of a daytime soap opera and Kenneth's white lover. Alternating scenes of their relationship with the elaborate fantasies Kenneth concocts whiling away his time in Central Park, this novel probes the dark, ambivalent underside of Kenneth's psyche. Scott's ambitious first novel explores the psychosocial dynamics of interracial relationships, homophobia, and racism. While always provocative and occasionally insightful, it ultimately disappoints, attempting to do too much in too few pages. Still, this is worthy of consideration for gay and ethnic studies and larger fiction collections.?Lawrence Rungren, Bedford Free P.L., Mass.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dutton Adult
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0525939121
• ISBN 13: 9780525939122
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224