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The Winter Of Our Discotheque
by Andrew W.M. Beierle
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Paperback
Publisher: Kensington
Set at the carefree, pre-AIDS dawn of the disco era, Andrew W.M. Beierle’s smart, seductive debut novel transports the alluring Tony Alexamenos out of the closet and into the fire as he sheds his grease-stained mechanic’s jumpsuit—to take Manhattan by storm... The Winter Of Our Discothèque Before his eighteenth summer, Tony Alexamenos was content to spend his mornings riding the waves, his afternoons pumping gas, and his nights secretly lusting after bronzed surfer boys. The day that changes everything begins like any other, with a car pulling into the station as Tony, fresh from the sparkling Atlantic, quickly towels off and dons his coveralls. Hurrying out to service the gleaming Caddy convertible, he never dreams that inside is a would-be fairy godfather who is about to transform his life… Obscenely wealthy Dallas Eden can’t believe his eyes. What’s a luscious boy like this doing in a grimy Florida service station? Quelling the urge to pounce on the sexy young thing, Dallas sets out instead to win Tony’s friendship—and his trust. Only then can he begin to transform this youthful Greek god into a protégé worthy of Dallas’s "harem." His first move: to hire Tony as assistant gardener at his Florida estate. His next: to see that his charge gets a full scholarship to Sanctuary College’s drama program. But everything doesn’t go according to Dallas’ plans. For it is away at college that Tony meets Connecticut Jones, a young professor who, though deeply closeted, is far from immune to Tony’s charms. When a prestigious fellowship falls into Connecticut’s lap, he heads for New York City—with Tony in tow… In no time, Tony is transformed from wide-eyed tourist to half-hearted hustler to Broadway sensation. But when Tony’s relationship with Connecticut falls by the wayside, the only person he can turn to is Dallas, who invites him to live rent-free in the lap of luxury at his Manhattan mansion. And it is Dallas who introduces him to Tuxedo Malone, a powerful modeling mogul. With a top-notch portfolio and guidance from renowned male model Valentine Rittenhouse, Tony bursts onto the fashion scene, falls for the sexually voracious Devlin DeSchuys—and never looks back. Launched on the path to superstardom, Tony swiftly grows accustomed to Manhattan’s frenetic rhythm, to sex, drugs, and liquor, and to the benevolent Dallas Eden always waiting in the wings. But if Tony has learned anything, it’s that nobody is who they appear to be—and that nothing lasts forever... Nothing, that is, except love, the one elusive thing he yearns for...
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| The Beginning and the End of Disco |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Beierle, Andrew W.M. "The Winter of Our Discotheque", Kensington. 2002.
The Beginning and the End of Disco
Amos Lassen
Looking back at those happy and carefree days before AIDS at the dawn of disco, Andrew Beierele's first novel is smart and very seductive. Tony Alexamenos comes out of the closet and into the whirlpool of gay Manhattan.
At 18 Tony was not concerned with much more that riding waves in the mornings, pumping gas in the afternoons, and laying the boys at night. One day everything changed when a car pulled into the gas station where he worked and driving was his new mentor who was about to change Tony's life forever.
That mentor was Dallas Eden who as amazed at his luck in finding such a beautiful boy at such a grimy gas station. He sets out to become Tony's friend and to gain his trust. It was his idea to transform Tony into a protégé who would be the prize in his collection of young men. He hires Tony to be his gardener at his Florida mansion and then secures him a full college scholarship. But his plans were not perfectly constructed. While at college, Tony met Connecticut Jones, a young professor, who although in the closet, falls for young Tony's alluring charms. When Jones wins a very prestigious fellowship, he moves to New York City and takes Tony with hi.
When Tony hits New York, he becomes a charming hustler and eventually the toast of the gay men in tow. Yet when Tony loses his relationship with Jones, he returns to Dallas Eden who then introduces him to Tuxedo Malone, head of a very powerful modeling agency. Tony stuns the fashion scene and comes into contact with yet another man, the sexually voracious Devlin DeSchuys and Tony leaves his past behind him--never looking back.
This is an intelligent and humorous but dark read. We enter w world in which we can become easily lost. The author's sense of description is so heightened that we feel we are there. The details of New York of the 70s in vivid and there are plenty of hot man ad lots of romance and wonderful sex. Covering ten years, this is an ambitious study.
Beierle has a knack for characterization and the people that he gives us are very real. The book is a factual observation of what gay life was. It is a journey of discovery for a good looking Florida boy. The book has the characteristics of a soap opera and hooks the reader quickly. Going through the twists and turns of ten years in the life and loves of Tony, we get a look at the "golden age of promiscuity". It is a picture of New York during that period between Stonewall and the devastation wrought by AIDS.
"Winter" opens to a period of our history in which not much was taboo ad anything went. Here is a compelling read that aside from being a great story tells us a great deal about our own struggle both skillfully and gracefully. It is, in short, a wonderful read.
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| Top Of The List |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Mr. Beierle has written a masterful novel. The characterization was so terrific that each time I read the book I don't want for it to end. I have e-mailed the author and he responded with a thank you and also reported that his next novel was in the works. "Andrew, I can't wait any longer!" Whether it is a sequel or not I am anxious to read more from this most talented writer. Highly recommend this one!
Guy De Rosa
Los Angeles, California
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| TIME FOR A SEQUEL! |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Many times gay writers who fancy themselves "brutally honest" in their observations of gay male life are really just annoyingly bitter. Not Beierle. He reports factual observations with just the right touch. Enough seasoning to be tasty but not too much to make the reader gag. I enjoyed this book immensely and thought the characters were richly painted, all deeply flawed, but likable -- the type I would want as friends. (except Devlin and we all know at least one person just like him). Another great aspect of this book is that it is set in the seventies, but a different portrait of the seventies than is usually presented. Okay, Andrew, where's the sequel?
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| Wonderful read |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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I stumbled on this book by accident, and was pleasantly surprised. This was truly a great read, and I am looking forward to another by this author.
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| With apologies to Shakespeare and Steinbeck |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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I ordered this book on a whim and wound up enjoying it -- in the sense that there is so little truly worthwhile contemporary gay fiction to begin with. This book starts on the longest day of the year in the last summer of the 1960s, and from there becomes a "pilgrim's progress" -- or more properly a "rake's progress" -- for a young, impossibly attractive Florida teen, taking him through the 1970s and 1980s. The shallowness, humor, and plot contrivances of this novel are, curiously, part of its appeal.
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