Going Gothic

In his March 5 Book World column in the Washington Post, reviewing two reference works surveying science fiction and horror fiction, respectively, Michael Dirda references a book I'd never heard of: Vincent Virga's Gaywyck (1980), the first openly gay modern Gothic novel.

Armistead Maupin (whose first name the Amazon page misspells, aargh) urged: "Read the son of a bitch! You'll love it!" And The Advocate declared it "an extraordinary tour de force that merits special praise." It's still in print, and I intend to check it out as a candidate for our next reading list.