Getting Off Clean

Gay male coming-out novels usually deal more with the personal than with the political, but Getting Off Clean encompasses both. Eric Fitzpatrick is a bright, high school senior in Mendham, a working-class town in Massachusetts. He is determined to fit in, be popular, and go to college. The only problem is that he is gay and just coming out--a problem complicated when he begins having an affair with Brooks Tremont, a black student who attends a prestigious prep school outside of town. When racial violence breaks out in Mendham, both Eric and Brooks have to make some serious choices. Getting Off Clean, deftly written and incredibly smart, challenges us to think in new ways about sexuality, class, race, and the accomplishments of gay fiction.