Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)"Last Call: A Novel of 1980 San Francisco" is a great Gay treasure! It's not often that I read something that demands my undivided attention, so I really loved this book. The story is a real page turner, with a superb mix of characters, something to appeal to everyone, vividly described settings and uproarious interweaving plots. It's smartly written, stylish, and poignant-a joy filled celebration of gay spirit and community on the eve of disaster.
The novel is set in San Francisco in 1980, at the height of the hedonistic gay cultural abandon that began with three other major events: the counter-cultural movement of the '60s, the sexual revolution, and the
Stonewall Riots of New York in 1969. It is important to keep these events in mind when reading "Last Call," as they really give the reader a basis upon which to understand the cultural and sexual attitudes that were prominent in San Francisco in 1980.
In some ways "Last Call" can be viewed as a historical novel. 1980 in San Francisco being so specific and distinct in our collective queer cultural history.
The story begins when two couples, Harry and Ted, and their friends Bill and Kelly, arrive in San Francisco for a two week vacation. The whole story is set during these two weeks, culminating at the S.F. Gay Freedom Day parade. For Ted, Bill and Kelly it is their first trip to the city. Harry is a veteran, having made a regular pilgrimage each year from his native Iowa City to commemorate his birthday. Almost as soon as they arrive, Harry, Ted, Bill and Kelly's paths diverge dramatically. New characters are encountered
and zany adventures ensue.
The story is told in the episodic style of Armistead Maupin's popular "Tales of the City" series. In fact, "Last Call" was commissioned for serialization by "The Advocate: The National Gay and Lesbian News Magazine" in 1980, based on the popularity of Maupin's "Tales." Originally titled "Pilgrims," the serial was canceled by the publisher 13 weeks into its run. "Last Call" is every bit as engaging and fun as anything in "Tales." And for a gay reader perhaps more so, since it delves much deeper in the gay cultural current of the time.
In an epilogue author Dennis Forbes explains the long and winding story of how "Pilgrims"/"Last Call" made its way to completion.
The story's focus is gay men, though there are several well written and interesting women characters. The first part of the book is full of sexually explicit scenes, but this is not pornography. The wild behavior paints a
memorable picture of the city at the height of its excesses. These impulses give way as the story evolves into more complex and mature situations that give the story breadth and gravitas.
The novel is brimming with whip smart dialogue that captures a culture that has all but vanished. Also notable are the vivid descriptions of locations and styles specific to San Francisco in 1980.
I found myself totally immersed in the story from page one. I equally took interest in each of the characters, and developed a fondness for them that has lasted beyond the final pages of the book.
The story's conclusion at San Francisco's Gay Freedom Day parade is sweeping and cinematic. "Last Call" is a bittersweet, lovingly written and very moving tale, destined to be a Gay classic!
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The time is mid-June 1980, that "last call" summer for the hedonistic decade of the Seventies. Arriving in San Francisco are four Iowans - new boyfriends and a pair of "honeymooners" - on a pilgrimage to Gay Mecca. They've high anticipations for Gay Pride Week, and particularly for the Big Parade that will climax their California holiday. But, finding themselves suddenly immersed in the "gayest city in the world," their relationships unravel, with new friends met, new pairings forged. At the end of their (mis)adventures-filled fortnight in The City (and Tinseltown, too, for one of them), the four find their lives changed for the better, never guessing what peril awaits just around the corner.
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