Status
Available
Call number
Collections
Publication
New York : Berkley Books, 1996, ©1994.
Description
In this brilliant literary mosaic centered around a love affair, acclaimed novelist Joseph Olshan explores the intense pressures and passions of gay life in New York City during the AIDS epidemic Ten years ago, Will Kaplan and his lover went for a night swim in the Pacific Ocean--but only Will emerged. In the decade that followed, Will relocated to the other end of the continent, filling his days with shallow and pointless affairs, unable to come to terms with the bizarre disappearance that could have been a tragic drowning, a well-planned abandonment, or both. While immersing himself in New York's gay bar and disco scene, and a hedonistic Fire Island culture darkened by the grim specter of AIDS, Will meets Sean Paris, a young man as tortured and damaged by the past as Will himself. Drawn together by mutual doubts, needs, secrets, and obsessions, the intense relationship that they form will make waves in their circles of friends and ex-lovers, transforming Will's life forever. … (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member mritchie56
Will's lover, who had a habit of swimming in the ocean at night, never returns from one of his swims. This haunts Will for years, and complicates his attempt at a new relationship with Sean, who has his own problems from the past to overcome. Atmospheric and engaging.
LibraryThing member Johnny1978
My older brother handed me this book when I was 17: since then I've thought of it often. It is beautifully written, sad and comic. It has one of the most perfect last lines, I have ever read. It's a novel about love, obsession and mourning.
LibraryThing member Paul-the-well-read
Many books are written by talented and capable people who have not personally had the experiences about which they write. War stories, for example, are often written by historians, writers of historical fiction and others whose research and imagination combine to create plausible and interesting
In Nightswimmer, I felt a level of authenticity that was subtle but undeniable. Olshan knew what it was like to face the AIDS epidemic, to experience love and yet be betrayed, to feel hurt so deeply that it became difficult to smile, to recover and to be vulnerable to another.
Good writers portray these feelings and portray them well, but writers who are writing from their souls, from their deepest pains or most ecstatic joys are able to tell a story in a way that leaves readers with absolute knowledge that the author bared his soul, shared his pain and created his art not from conjecture but from experience.
Often the reader shares nothing in common with the writer nor even his characters and storyline and yet still experiences something mystical and ethereal that reveals the truth within the fiction. And this is exactly why books need to be written and readers need to read widely, because only from seeing into the journeys of others can we develop the empathy that makes us better human beings.
Nightswimmer is a good book for anyone to read, straight or gay. It’s story is about love, caring, vulnerability, fear, trust, betrayal and other emotions. Are these confined only to those of one orientation or the other? Good books portray universal themes and when those themes are set in non-traditional situations, they help readers gain insights into those themes they would not get otherwise. The gay readers of this book will identify with its theme, perhaps thinking more deeply about their own vulnerabilities or frustrations with those of others. Straight readers with deepen insight, perhaps examining their own vulnerability after a tragic experience. It is a worthwhile read.
Show More
stories. John Steinbeck had not been a refugee from the Dust Bowl when he wrote The Grapes of Wrath nor had Margaret Mitchell even been a slave holder or participant in the Civil War, yet each wrote powerful novels, conveying wonderful truths and ideas.In Nightswimmer, I felt a level of authenticity that was subtle but undeniable. Olshan knew what it was like to face the AIDS epidemic, to experience love and yet be betrayed, to feel hurt so deeply that it became difficult to smile, to recover and to be vulnerable to another.
Good writers portray these feelings and portray them well, but writers who are writing from their souls, from their deepest pains or most ecstatic joys are able to tell a story in a way that leaves readers with absolute knowledge that the author bared his soul, shared his pain and created his art not from conjecture but from experience.
Often the reader shares nothing in common with the writer nor even his characters and storyline and yet still experiences something mystical and ethereal that reveals the truth within the fiction. And this is exactly why books need to be written and readers need to read widely, because only from seeing into the journeys of others can we develop the empathy that makes us better human beings.
Nightswimmer is a good book for anyone to read, straight or gay. It’s story is about love, caring, vulnerability, fear, trust, betrayal and other emotions. Are these confined only to those of one orientation or the other? Good books portray universal themes and when those themes are set in non-traditional situations, they help readers gain insights into those themes they would not get otherwise. The gay readers of this book will identify with its theme, perhaps thinking more deeply about their own vulnerabilities or frustrations with those of others. Straight readers with deepen insight, perhaps examining their own vulnerability after a tragic experience. It is a worthwhile read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Paul-the-well-read
Many books are written by talented and capable people who have not personally had the experiences about which they write. War stories, for example, are often written by historians, writers of historical fiction and others whose research and imagination combine to create plausible and interesting
In Nightswimmer, I felt a level of authenticity that was subtle but undeniable. Olshan knew what it was like to face the AIDS epidemic, to experience love and yet be betrayed, to feel hurt so deeply that it became difficult to smile, to recover and to be vulnerable to another.
Good writers portray these feelings and portray them well, but writers who are writing from their souls, from their deepest pains or most ecstatic joys are able to tell a story in a way that leaves readers with absolute knowledge that the author bared his soul, shared his pain and created his art not from conjecture but from experience.
Often the reader shares nothing in common with the writer nor even his characters and storyline and yet still experiences something mystical and ethereal that reveals the truth within the fiction. And this is exactly why books need to be written and readers need to read widely, because only from seeing into the journeys of others can we develop the empathy that makes us better human beings.
Nightswimmer is a good book for anyone to read, straight or gay. It’s story is about love, caring, vulnerability, fear, trust, betrayal and other emotions. Are these confined only to those of one orientation or the other? Good books portray universal themes and when those themes are set in non-traditional situations, they help readers gain insights into those themes they would not get otherwise. The gay readers of this book will identify with its theme, perhaps thinking more deeply about their own vulnerabilities or frustrations with those of others. Straight readers with deepen insight, perhaps examining their own vulnerability after a tragic experience. It is a worthwhile read.
Show More
stories. John Steinbeck had not been a refugee from the Dust Bowl when he wrote The Grapes of Wrath nor had Margaret Mitchell even been a slave holder or participant in the Civil War, yet each wrote powerful novels, conveying wonderful truths and ideas.In Nightswimmer, I felt a level of authenticity that was subtle but undeniable. Olshan knew what it was like to face the AIDS epidemic, to experience love and yet be betrayed, to feel hurt so deeply that it became difficult to smile, to recover and to be vulnerable to another.
Good writers portray these feelings and portray them well, but writers who are writing from their souls, from their deepest pains or most ecstatic joys are able to tell a story in a way that leaves readers with absolute knowledge that the author bared his soul, shared his pain and created his art not from conjecture but from experience.
Often the reader shares nothing in common with the writer nor even his characters and storyline and yet still experiences something mystical and ethereal that reveals the truth within the fiction. And this is exactly why books need to be written and readers need to read widely, because only from seeing into the journeys of others can we develop the empathy that makes us better human beings.
Nightswimmer is a good book for anyone to read, straight or gay. It’s story is about love, caring, vulnerability, fear, trust, betrayal and other emotions. Are these confined only to those of one orientation or the other? Good books portray universal themes and when those themes are set in non-traditional situations, they help readers gain insights into those themes they would not get otherwise. The gay readers of this book will identify with its theme, perhaps thinking more deeply about their own vulnerabilities or frustrations with those of others. Straight readers with deepen insight, perhaps examining their own vulnerability after a tragic experience. It is a worthwhile read.
Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Lambda Literary Award (Nominee — 1994)
Language
Original publication date
1994
Physical description
252 p.; 22 cm
ISBN
0671885804 / 9780671885809
Local notes
OCLC = 23
Other editions
Night Swimmer by Joseph Olshan (Hardcover)