Overview

How far would you go to feel alive? Lambda Literary Award nominee for Best Gay Fiction ""Set in contemporary New York City, this is a beautiful dark queer re-envisioning of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. Wynne immediately engages the reader with finely detailed descriptions, nuanced characters, and an air of mystery that makes this 400+ page novel read like a novella..."" (Lambda Literary Review) ""I read this so fast I got blisters turning the pages. The Red Shoes is astonishingly good -- original, beautiful, amazing. A great work of art."" (Kate Christensen, PEN/Faulkner Award winner) After John Laith loses his beloved partner Frank, he believes he's lost the will to live life fully -- until he rescues a handsome young dancer from a brutal assault. By way of thanks, the dancer gives Laith a pair of glittering red shoes which lead him down a dangerous path in a vividly brought to life Manhattan. On his new journey he must survive obsessive relationships with unpredictable and chillingly unforgettable characters: Silvio -- a macho city cop Crewe -- a narcissistic millionaire living in a penthouse with his wife and daughter Baily -- a drug-addicted bouncer in a nightclub An innocent in a sinister underworld, Laith must grapple with grief, obsession, lust, sensuality, and spirituality in a city where salvation and destruction walk side by side. He's left to wonder -- Is his fascination with the dark side fueled by the magical powers of the red shoes...or from hidden forces within himself? In this riveting battle between the sacred and the profane, Laith must choose: surrender to the darkness, or reclaim the life he thought he'd lost forever.

Full Product Details

9780931476105

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Reviews

""Set in contemporary New York City, THE RED SHOES by John Stewart Wynne is a beautifully dark queer re-visioning of the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale with finely detailed descriptions, nuanced character development, and an air of mystery that makes the 400+ page text read like a novella.Wynne elegantly blends spirituality, sensuality, obsession, lust, drug (ab)use, as well as interspersed social and cultural commentary. Along with the beauty of Wynne's language throughout the novel, there are many scenes that are not for the faint of heart. Some of the explicitly visceral sections led me to take a break from reading. The intricacy and intrigue of the story, however, brought me back."" (Jamie Jones, Lambda Literary Review) ""I read this so fast I got blisters turning pages.THE RED SHOES is so astonishingly good, original, beautiful and amazing...it's like a sumptuous meal with all flavors -- salty, bitter, sweet, hot. I love the Gothic feeling of terrible impending doom and the counterbalancing elements of light. I think it's a great work of art."" (Kate Christensen, PEN/Faulkner Award winner) ""The narrator is as fully realized and endearing a character as I've ever known. The first person worked so well here. The novel is cohesive, charming, sad and a true achievement. It's really very grand."" (Ben Schrank, LOVE IS A CANOE) ""I loved the mysteriousness of everything and everybody in THE RED SHOES which gripped my attention throughout and had me mesmerized. I loved the way the novel's preoccupations with loss, danger and safety would loom in and out of view in the surreal fog of drugs, sex and dark humor. I found it quite haunting and didn't want it to end."" (Stephen D. Adams, author of THE HOMOSEXUAL AS HERO and JAMES PURDY) ""Wynne's compelling re-telling of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale THE RED SHOES is a battle between love and lust, self-abandon and self-redemption. It's an emotional rollercoaster through rat-infested alleys, basement tenements, ostentatious penthouses, lofty museums, and houses of prayer. With remarkable sensitivity, Wynne takes us into the heart and very soul of his character's dilemma, without a sentimental misstep or unmeasured beat."" (Janyce Stefan-Cole, author of HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD)

Author Information

John Stewart Wynne is an American author of fiction, as well as a Grammy-nominated producer of audio books.

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