The Lost Language of Cranes: A Novel - Softcover

Leavitt, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1620407027 ISBN 13: 9781620407028

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA, 2014

Synopsis

Set in the 1980s against the backdrop of a swiftly gentrifying Manhattan, The Lost Language of Cranes tells the story of twenty-five-year-old Philip Benjamin, who realizes he must come out to his parents after falling in love for the first time with a man. Philip's parents are facing their own problems: pressure from developers and the loss of their longtime home. But the real threat to the family is Philip's father's own struggle with his suppressed homosexuality, realized only in Sunday afternoon visits to gay porn theaters. Philip's revelation to his parents leads his father to a point of crisis and provokes changes that forever alter the landscape of the family's lives.

About this title

About the Author:

David Leavitt's fiction includes the collection Family Dancing and the novels While England Sleeps, The Body of Jonah Boyd, The Indian Clerk (finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and shortlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award), and The Two Hotel Francforts. He is also the author of two nonfiction works, The Man Who Knew Too Much and Florence, A Delicate Case. He is professor of English at the University of Florida in Gainesville, and edits the literary magazine Subtropics.

www.davidleavittwriter.com

From Library Journal:

This first novel by the author of Family Dancing, a well-received collection of short stories ( LJ 8/84), reflects both the author's youth and his promise. The story focuses on Philip Benjamin, a 25-year-old New Yorker, somewhat naive but definitely gay, who is involved in his first "serious" romance. This situation is complicated by the struggle of Philip's father to deal more openly with his own longstanding, but thus far closeted, homosexual inclinations. With Philip's coming out, father is thrown into even greater turmoil, mother begins to realize the complete truth, and all are forced to reexamine the ties that bind them. Leavitt again proves adept at looking into the complexities of familial relationships and generational differences. At times the work seems self-indulgent and just a bit trite but is nonetheless recommended. David W. Henderson, Eckerd Coll. Lib., St. Petersburg, Fla.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1620407027
• ISBN 13: 9781620407028
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320