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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Sep 2000, 192 pages
Paperback:
Oct 2001, 352 pages
Maupin's most ambitious and daringly imaginative novel, a tale that will challenge and move his many fans as never before.
Here is the much-anticipated new work from one of America's literary icons--a gripping novel of suspense that explores the boundaries of the human heart.
Gabriel Noone is a teller of tales, a writer whose cult-hit radio serial "Noone at Night" brought him into the homes of millions, including an ailing 13-year-old boy named Pete Lomax. Meeting through extraordinary circumstances, Noone develops a remarkable friendship with Pete, a connection that evolves into a profound mystery that will blur the lines between truth and illusion, and lead Noone to confront all of his relationships--familial, romantic, and erotic--knowledge that will alter his perception of himself and his life forever.
The Night Listener is Armistead Maupin's most ambitious and daringly imaginative novel, a tale that will challenge and move his many fans as never before.<
Chapter One
Jewelling The Elephant
I know how it sounds when I call him my son. There's something a little precious about it, a little too wishful to be taken seriously. I've noticed the looks on people's faces, those dim, indulgent smiles that vanish in a heartbeat. It's easy enough to see how they've pegged me: an unfulfilled man on the shady side of fifty, making a last grasp at fatherhood with somebody else's child. That's not the way it is. Frankly, I've never wanted a kid. Never once believed that nature's whim had robbed me of my manly destiny. Pete and I were an accident, pure and simple, a collision of kindred spirits that had nothing to do with paternal urges, latent or otherwise. That much I can tell you for sure.
Son isn't the right word, of course.
Just the only one big enough to describe what happened.
I'm a fabulist by trade, so be forewarned: I've spent years looting my life for fiction. Like a magpie, I save the shiny stuff and discard the rest; it's ...
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