Vanishing Rooms

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The disturbing issues of racism and homophobia are forcefully examined in Dixon's provocative new novel (after Trouble the Water ), in which he skillfully illuminates the mixed emotions of distinctive urban characters whose lives are changed by tragedy. When a group of homophobic thugs in Manhattan brutally assaults and murders a Louisiana-born gay white man called Metro, his black lover and roommate, dancer Jesse Duran, begins to see New York as a cold battlefield of racial and sexual hostilities. Seeking solace, Jesse turns to a fellow dancer--a sensitive, self-doubting black woman named Ruella McPhee. The poetically charged narrative depicts Ruella's growing love for Jesse, as well as Jesse's conflicting feelings about his sexuality, and about Ruella and Metro. Utilizing three different voices in alternating chapters, Dixon creates convincing psychological characterizations. He captures a true feminine quality in Ruella's voice; Jesse's ruminations reveal a self-involved person looking for stability. The remaining voice is that of Lonny, a sexually confused 15-year-old who unwittingly contributes to the assault on Metro. This realistic portrait of pain and loss carries strong emotional resonance. (Mar.)

Library Journal

In this novel by a professor of English at Queens College, CUNY, three people are tragically affected by the death of a gay man in New York City, and each tells his or her story: Jesse, a black dancer whose white lover is killed in a gay-bashing; Ruella, another dancer, to whom Jesse turns in his grief; and Lonny, a white teenager whose gang of friends escalate a name-calling incident into gang rape and murder. Each character has a distinct voice and a distinct set of personal problems. Jesse and Ruella can give voice to their emotional needs only through the dance, while Lonny turns to dance of another kind entirely. Dixon's powerful tale is rich in psychological insight, with action that is at times vividly brutal. Recommended, especially for African-American and gay fiction collections.-- Debbie Tucker, Cincinnati Technical Coll., Ohio