a novel by Troy Ford
A "gritty and exciting story" with "sharp [-] terrific [-] delicious" characterisation, told in a "laconic voice that perfectly matches the mileu."
Jimmy Traywick—pretty, barfly, talented painter—loses his job, his apartment, his boyfriend, and his gallery in a single disastrous month. As he leaves San Francisco to start over in a Bay Area backwater, a charismatic stranger well-connected in the New York art world appears to rescue his painting ambitions. Meanwhile, disappointed by boozy hookups, he muses over throupling up with a Daddy/boy couple, or a safe romance with a sweet but ambiguous coworker.
Jimmy’s new patron soon delivers bleak feedback from an NYC art dealer: his style is too unsophisticated. Determined to salvage the opportunity, he enlists his lovers as models in a bid to make his work fresh and relevant.
Even as secrets unravel and his relationships spin out of control, Jimmy's new painting series secures his participation in a group show. But just when love, success and sobriety are finally within reach, past mistakes engulf him in a twisted intersection of hopelessness, rage, and greed.