Always There by Leaving

Description

At twelve years old, Paul has withdrawn from his school, his family, and even his own body. He barely connects with reality. Then he meets Hal, a mercurial kid who harbors guilt about his brother’s arrest for a violent home invasion. Angry and lonely in different ways, the boys form a bond, first by fighting and then through a lasting, but unequal, affection—one constantly tested by Hal’s risky behavior. Their exploits include a shoplifting scheme that goes terribly wrong, a fall while playing a dangerous game, and a police raid on a gay bar. As Newark in the late 1960s decays around them, Hal’s schemes escalate, ending in a botched drug deal that leads to deadly violence. Interwoven with the boys’ adventures are scenes from Paul’s dysfunctional family life with his acerbic mother and immature father, and the seedy and sometimes dangerous men willing to take advantage of boys lost to their families and hungry for true affection. Always There by Leaving is rich in incident and biting observations about class, family, sexual difference, urban decay, and passionate friendships.

About Louis Flint Ceci

Louis Flint Ceci has edited four books of poetry and an anthology for Beautiful Dreamer Press. His poetry has been published in Colorado North Review and read on the air as part of PRI’s Living on Earth. His short stories have appeared in Diseased Pariah News, Trikone, and Jonathan, and in the anthologies Queer and Catholic, Gay City Volume 4: At Second Glance, and Best Gay Erotica, Volume 3. His novel, Comfort Me, was published by Prizm Books in 2008.