Real life

Description:

"A novel of rare emotional power that excavates the social intricacies of a late-summer weekend -- and a lifetime of buried pain. Almost everything about Wallace, an introverted African-American transplant from Alabama, is at odds with the lakeside Midwestern university town where he is working toward a biochem degree. For reasons of self-preservation, Wallace has enforced a wary distance even within his own circle of friends -- some dating each other, some dating women, some feigning straightness. But a series of confrontations with colleagues, and an unexpected encounter with a young straight man, conspire to fracture his defenses, while revealing hidden currents of resentment and desire that threaten the equilibrium of their community"--

subjects: American literature,  Fiction, african american, general,  Fiction, gay,  New York Times reviewed,  Fiction, african american & black, general,  African American gay men,  Fiction,  Graduate students,  FICTION / Literary,  FICTION / LGBT / Gay,  FICTION / African American / General,  Friendship,  Interpersonal relations,  Fiction, lgbtq+, gay,  collection:edmund_white_award=finalist