All pictures not credited are from the collection of the author.
LC: Library of Congress; LGC: Lester Glassner Collection; VVC: Vincent Virga Collection
Frontispiece: “Jimmy, New York City, 1982,” by George Haas, courtesy of the artist
I. Origination
Background image: New York City at Night, LC
Foreground images, clockwise from far left:
Author’s confirmation picture, 1952
“440,” mixed media, 7’ x 70’ (detail), 2000, by Darragh Park, courtesy of the artist
Author with friends at high school dance, 1957
Ljuba Welitsch as Richard Strauss’s Salome, 1951, VVC
Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) and Margo Channing (Bette Davis), from Mankiewicz’s All About Eve, 1950, frame enlargement, LGC
Author’s father, 1928
II. Investigations
Background image: map of Greenwich Village, LC
Foreground images, clockwise from far left:
Tallulah Bankhead, by Carl Van Vechten, 1934, LC
“Soldier Asleep on Greyhound Bus,” by Esther Bubley, 1943, LC
The two faces of Kim Novak in Hitchcock’s Vertigo, frame enlargements, LC
The Hotel Astor, LC
Carnegie Hall, United Artists, 1947, movie poster, LC
A Star Is Born, Warner Bros., 1954, movie poster, LC
“Shubert Alley,” by Lester Glassner, 1953, courtesy of the artist
III. Breaking Out
Background Image: “Couple on Fire Island,” by Jarry Lang, 1965, VVC
Foreground images, clockwise from far left:
Harry Blair
Author with friend and mother at opening of Metropolitan Opera, 1963
Diane DeVors, by Jarry Lang, 1964, VVC
From Drags to Riches, program, Cherry Grove Playhouse, 1964, VVC
Dixie, 1964
Everard Baths, New York City, advertisement
Partisan Review, Fall 1964
IV. Expatriates
Background image, right: Author’s letter from London, 1969
Background image, left: Piccadilly Circus, London, LC
Foreground images, clockwise from far left:
Author in London, 1970
Author (center) with Vincent Virga (left) and friends in London, 1970
Svetlana Beriosova in Ashton/Walton’s Facade, VVC
Author’s letter from London, 1970
Victoria de los Angeles as Massenet’s Manon, courtesy Xavier Vivanco
Jacqueline Du Pré, LC
V. Return Engagements
Background image: New York City subway map, LC
Foreground images, clockwise from far left:
“David with the Head of Goliath,” by Caravaggio, Borghese Gallery, Rome, courtesy of Matthew Fink
Herman Melville, LC
Tennessee Williams, LC
Maria Callas and Luchino Visconti in rehearsal, La Scala, Milan, VVC
Raymond Chandler, LC
Mawrdew Czgowchwz, book jacket design by Lawrence Ratzkin, 1975, Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Gaywyck, 1980, Avon Books
Dancer from the Dance, 1979, Bantam Books
The Boys in the Band, National General Pictures, lobby card, 1970, LGC
VI. Dead Reckonings
Background image: “Silver Lining,” by John Paradiso, 1995, courtesy of the artist
Foreground images, clockwise from far left:
James Schuyler, by Clay Felver, 1985, courtesy of Darragh Park
James Merrill, by J.D. McClatchy, courtesy of the artist
Bruce Ritter, AP photo/Richard Drew, 1989
Time Remaining, book jacket design by Chip Kidd, Alfred A. Knopf, 1993
“Seductive,” by John Paradiso, 1991, courtesy of the artist
Dorothy Dean
Neil Cunningham
Vincent Virga and the author in pool, Rancho Mirage, New Year’s Day, 1980, by Jarry Lang, VVC
VII. Lost Angeles
Background image, right: “Palm #2, Echo Park, 2002,” by George Haas, courtesy of the artist
Background image, left: “Palm #7, Silver Lake, 2002,” by George Haas, courtesy of the artist
Foreground images, clockwise from far left:
Mural on Cahuenga Boulevard, Los Angeles, photo by the author, 1983
Helen Phillips (Jane Wyman) and Bob Merrick (Rock Hudson), from Sirk’s Magnificent Obsession, 1954, VVC
Deep Joan, LGC
Joan Crawford (Faye Dunaway), from Perry’s Mommie Dearest, 1981, LGC
Sister Ruth (Kathleen Byron), Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr) and Mr. Dean (David Farrar), from Powell’s Black Narcissus, 1947, LGC
Los Angeles postcard
Mae West, LGC
Bob Cohen and Richard Rouilard, by Greg Zabilski, courtesy of Bob Cohen
Queer Street, jacket design by Rubina Yeh, W. W. Norton & Company, 2003
Douglas Sirk, LGC