cover image Three Views from Vertical Cliffs

Three Views from Vertical Cliffs

Eric Latzky. Amethyst Books, $9.94 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-927200-11-0

In this account of a gay artist's loss of his lover and the volatile events that follow, scenes are described in dark, broad strokes. ``You abhor photographs because they are blatant, like a subject, but paintings can be ambiguous as a dream that could mean anything.'' Narrating in the second person, Latzky demands a lot from the reader, who is cast in the uncomfortable role of protagonist. By the end of this brief first novel the reader will have watched his diseased lover hurl himself to his death, masturbated incessantly and sharply bitten another lover's nipple. For enduring such trials we might expect to be rewarded with something more than the vicarious experience of sadomasochistic sex. Latzky does deliver a measure of resolution, ending the story in a static balance between the chaos of life and the limits of a canvas, between boundless passion and the comforts of intimacy, but the journey is so dimly lit--including trippy passages and epiphany through the study of furniture--that little is revealed for our indulgence. (Dec.)