The Terminal Bar - by Larry Mitchell (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A reissue of Larry Mitchell's long-out-of-print novel about denizens of an infamous New York dive bar in the early years of the AIDS epidemic.

First published in 1982, The Terminal Bar depicts a web of lovers, friends, exes, and activists who gather to banter about the politics of the day. With ribaldry and caustic wit, protagonist Robin and his friends contend with the aftermath of the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster, global crisis, and the arrival of HIV. The bar and its habitués create a queer haven at the start of the Reagan years and the AIDS epidemic. Beloved by queer readers in the 1980s, this new edition will restore to print a classic that's been long unavailable.

Review Quotes

"Larry Mitchell's super-sophisticated nymphs and fauns live on a brink that might be a new frontier. As America collapses, these marvelous mutants huddle in their uncertain sanctuary: the chaotic, quixotic, quicksand of the Terminal Bar. Whole-wits in a half-world, they're trying to live in society determined to die, trying to love among cannibals, write among illiterates, think among lobotomites . . . It's Waugh and Peace, Perelman before swing, the Firbank of America, Isherwood to keep the home fires burning. Yes, these gallant gremlins do exist, and nowhere more vividly than in Mitchell's brave book."--Robert Patrick, author of Kennedy's Children

"I can't think of any novel that so happily combines the clear-eyed cynicism and infectious humor of New York gay life and attitudes. The characters in The Terminal Bar may be dancing on a volcano of crime, pollution, bureaucracy and madness, but they do so with the grace and charm of a painting by Matisse. I love this book."--Felice Picano, author of The Lure