In 1988 Kingston, a group of men mount a staging of John Herbert's prison play Fortune and Men's Eyes, and the production ends in violence and a series of disappearances. The novel follows the survivors through journals, interview transcripts and letters across 1988, 1994, 1999 and 2005, from Jamaica to Miami and back.
Books mentioned in The Disappearers (47)
Fortune and Men's Eyes by John Herbert: “the name of the play: Fortune and Men's Eyes, a play by John Herbert”
Dancer from the Dance by Andrew Holleran: “I'm the only one you can talk to about Dancer from the Dance.”
The City and the Pillar by Gore Vidal: “And The City and the Pillar, A Boy's Own Story, Leaves of Grass.”
A Boy's Own Story by Edmund White: “And The City and the Pillar, A Boy's Own Story, Leaves of Grass.”
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman: “And The City and the Pillar, A Boy's Own Story, Leaves of Grass.”
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin: “Not even Giovanni's Room? 'The Baldwin?'”
Maurice by E. M. Forster: “"Prefer Maurice." "The Forster? Nobody prefers Maurice."”
Corydon by André Gide: “"What you have to say 'bout Gide? ... Corydon." "The 'let me explain and defend my faggotry' book?"”
If It Die by André Gide: “"What you have to say 'bout Gide?" "If It Die or The Counterfeiters?"”
The Blacks by Jean Genet: “Cover is like Genet's The Blacks”
The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller: “I spend all day on the bed reading The Dark Knight Returns for the umpteenth time.”
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez: “Márquez's Love in the Time of Cholera, Stephen King's The Tommyknockers, Toni Morrison's Beloved...”
The Tommyknockers by Stephen King: “Stephen King's The Tommyknockers”
Beloved by Toni Morrison: “"Toni Morrison's Beloved"; later "You really should read Beloved."”
Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett: “Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters”
Nebraska by George Whitmore: “George Whitmore's Nebraska, which I heard is a gay novel”
The Milkman's on His Way by David Rees: “that David Rees book I brought back from England, The Milkman's on His Way”
The Sexual Outlaw by John Rechy: “John Rechy's The Sexual Outlaw, page twenty-eight”
Two Girls, Fat and Thin by Mary Gaitskill: “one book, Two Girls, Fat and Thin, by Mary Gaitskill”
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov: “Lolita begins this way, with him turning her name into a tongue workout”
Bleak House by Charles Dickens: “I've read Bleak House more times than that black-hating piece of dog shit named Dickens deserves”
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens: “reading him Oliver Twist”
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge: “'That what he singing now?' 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,' Eddy said.”
Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge: “the beaten-up copy of Lyrical Ballads, which you will never read”
Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar: “I've tried to read Memoirs of Hadrian and for the third time I got as far as page 150”
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison: “Ever read Song of Solomon? The Toni Morrison novel, not the Bible story.”
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas: “First he asked me if I ever read The Count of Monte Cristo, which I have”
The Joy of Sex by Alex Comfort: “which he read in The Joy of Sex”
The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne: “looked like he just walked right off the pages of The Mysterious Island into our school”
The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope: “whoever couldn't be bothered to take home The Way We Live Now”
Shame by Salman Rushdie: “those three sisters at the beginning of Salman Rushdie's novel Shame”
Fatal Vision by Joe McGinniss: “You going turn this into a book like Fatal Vision?”
Flesh and Blood by Michael Cunningham: “tried to read a novel called Flesh and Blood by Michael Cunningham”
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare: “Even your Twelfth Night had a table read.”
Hamlet by William Shakespeare: “Hamlet did fucking delay, too, you know.”
Pharsalia by Lucan: “I really want to pick the Theban plays or Lucan's Civil War”
The Theban Plays by Sophocles: “I really want to pick the Theban plays or Lucan's Civil War”