American Studies

AMERICAN STUDIES

by Mark Merlis

 

Award: LA Times Winner 1995

 

Date Read: Sepember 17, 2022

 

Before it was okay to be openly gay, Merlis takes us into a world that is difficult to bare. The men depicted in American Studies live secret lives, in constant fear of being “outed” and persecuted politically, legally and socially. This fear robbed the men of the time from finding true love and connection because brief, short encounters were more discreet and less suspect.

 

We meet Reeve in the hospital, recovering from a brutal assault from a “trick,” a man he paid and brought home for an evening of sex. Somewhat comical is the way the man rifles through Reeve’s apartment looking for cash and Reeve is trying to explain that everything is handled through plastic now. He has no cash. Added to the terror is the fear that people will find out what really happened and discover he is gay. I cannot imagine.

 

Set in the world of academia, before universities became coed, Reeve meets Tom, a professor who is clearly gay and holds sherry hours in his private university quarters. He holds court among the freshman young men, espousing his political philosophy while making subtle overtures to those he finds appealing. Reeve is one of those men.

 

While Tom and Reeve’s encounters never turn sexual, they are very close and in a relationship of sorts. Tom is ultimately outed and ousted from the university at a ripe old age and finding it too difficult to start over again, his dating prospects dismal, and his latest love the cause of his outing, Tom tragically takes his own life. Reeve is the executor and largest beneficiary of his estate.

 

These men were blamed for their “life choices.” Blamed for being a sister, a homo, a faggot. They were blamed for the violence inflicted upon them and, in Reeve’s case, evicted from his apartment for the disturbance and mayhem in his apartment. Talk about adding insult to injury. While the world is slowly becoming more accepting – gay marriage is legal (for now), you can no longer be arrested for same sex sexual encounters, violence against same sex couples is in decline – there is still plenty of discrimination and bias to go around. Often this bias, nee hatred, is due to religious beliefs, even though God doesn’t make mistakes.

 

Merlis is a beautiful writer and this debut novel provides a glimpse into a world that most of us weren’t aware of. American Studies is heartbreaking, occasionally funny and thoroughly engaging. I hope more of his work is on my list.

 

“I want my saints to be of one substance, all the way to their hearts, like blocks of marble: all the same, no matter how far you cut into them. But inside them is shame and terror and doubt…”