Mar 26, 2013
Many of Purdy’s characters are gay men, but they rarely announce themselves as such. Purdy allows their desires and actions to define them to themselves. The reader and the characters discover things simultaneously. In a world so very defined, Purdy creates a beautifully bizarre, free and ambiguous space for himself and his characters.
For this series I’m asking the writers I love to recommend a book. If I haven’t read it, I read it. Then we talk about it.
In this installment, I'm talking with Rachel B. Glaser about James Purdy's I am Elijah Thrush.
Previously, I spoke with Amelia Gray about Barry Hannah’s Airships and Roxane Gay about Claire Vaye Watkins's Battleborn.