Gaysians
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- $20.99
Publisher Description
Kirkus Best Fiction of the Year • From the acclaimed author of the young adult graphic novel Flamer comes a heartwarming story following four gay Asians navigating love, identity, and friendship—a celebration of queer chosen family.
When AJ moves to Seattle in the early aughts, he’s ready to reinvent himself as a gay Asian man—but his dreams hit reality fast with no friends, no job, and an apartment so far out, “not even lesbians live there.” Then a spilled drink at a bar introduces him to K, a glamorous drag queen; John, a shy gamer; and Steven, a reckless flirt. AJ’s “Boy Luck Club” helps him find love, pride, and belonging—until a brutal attack tests everything they know about friendship and family.
Meticulously observed and gorgeously illustrated, Gaysians is a fierce, funny, and tender story of queer resilience and self-discovery.
“I’ve been hunting for books like this my whole life; this story broke my heart and healed it.”—Maia Kobabe, author of Gender Queer
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lambda award–winning cartoonist Curato (Flamer) makes his adult debut with this earnest, skillfully drawn look at the friendship circle of four single queer Asian folks—cheekily dubbed the Boy Luck Club—in early 2000s Seattle. The story opens with AJ, young and newly out, arriving in the city. He is soon taken under the wing of K, a bighearted drag performer. K also acts as den mother to John, a shy, heavyset gamer with a fatalistic attitude toward romance, and Steven, a handsome nurse who avoids his problems by losing himself in promiscuous sexual adventures. In between romantic entanglements, the four also experience racism, homophobia, and familial rejection, fueling their confusion and self-doubt. Through it all, they nurture one another, albeit with some squabbles here and there. As K counsels AJ, "In this life we die and are reborn in our hearts many times." At first glance, each of Curato's characters may appear as gay stereotypes, but he renders them endearingly flawed and fully three-dimensional. This warmhearted tale of found family will charm and entertain readers, some of whom might want to keep a box of Kleenex handy.
