Patricia Nell Warren

A Novel

The Front Runner

Jenna T.

I've had this book on my To-Read shelf for a while, having seen it in my recommendations at some point and thinking it sounded interesting. It's hard to find widely-read older gay novels that have such high ratings. I don't really consider myself a picky reader; I will read in just about any genre, but my one caveat is that it has to be good. Sometimes what other people consider "good" is hit or miss for me, personally, but I like having some sort of testimonial before I pick up something unfamiliar. (I'm a librarian and a great lover of stories, but there are only so many that I'll be able to read in my lifetime. I'd rather spend my time reading something I'm going to enjoy!) I'm also very interested in more historical LGBT stuff, especially considering the gay civil rights movement of the late 60's/early 70's and how it shaped the culture of the era, what the landscape looked like before and after, how this was reflected in the film and publishing industries with LGBT stories, etc. I could go into a whole spiel, but I'll spare you. Anyway, this book looked like it was going to tick a lot of boxes for me, so I went around hunting for a copy of it.I was finally able to track one down, at my university library, but the copy itself was very old and fragile. I've actually had it out for about a year and a half now, for myriad reasons (among them my fear of damaging the book by reading it, the enormous pile of books on my TBR, life events distracting me from reading, and the pandemic closing the school library several times). But, long story short, I finally got around to it and started reading.I was hooked from the first moment by the story itself. I was also impressed by the bold, matter-of-fact way the characters' sexualities are presented. I think it's really telling that the language was starting to appear in this era to describe all of these different identities; most of the older LGBT fiction I've read (admittedly not much so far) has sort of danced around certain things like labels and descriptions of sexual acts, but not so here. I'll admit that I was a little squicked out by the huge age gap between the two leads, but the story took pains to make it clear that there was never any coercion on either side, and the power imbalances present were either resolved or set off by imbalances in the other direction. Harlan was a lot older than Billy and had power over him as his teacher and his coach, but Billy was definitely an adult himself who was fully capable of making his own decisions, and he later became a teacher alongside Harlan at the same school; aside from that, he has had much more romantic and emotional experience and is more comfortable with his identity than Harlan, thanks to his upbringing, so he was the more emotionally mature one.The writing itself is all first person from Harlan's point of view, so it's written in his voice. It's curt, restrained, and to-the-point, which isn't my favorite style of writing in the world, but it really suited Harlan's character and his story, so I think it benefitted the story rather than detracting from it in any way.Now onto my sole complaint, which I will put in spoiler tags because... well, spoilers.(view spoiler)[So, part of the reason I wanted to read this was because I foolishly thought it would have a happy ending. I dunno, I guess I didn't read the synopsis closely enough. The reason the Bury Your Gays trope is such a widespread phenomenon is because of publishing practices in this era and before it. In a story featuring LGBT characters who were undeniably "out" in the narrative, one of two things had to happen. Either the characters had to get their act together and magically turn straight by the end of the story... or one (or both) of them had to die by the end. This wasn't always the case, of course; but in general, this was the only way to get the books published and out onto shelves; when the books were challenged by critics and censors, the author and/or publisher could point to the ending and claim to have been making a statement or a condemnation against homosexuality. So the gay literary canon is inundated with these tragic-ending stories, and even nowadays you have a sort of trickle-down of that good old-fashioned tragedy porn stuff in movies (and some books still, as well) where a sad ending is seen as deeper than a happy one.Anyway. All that to say: I HATE tragic endings in gay stories, and I actively go out of my way to avoid them unless the story itself is really good and will be worth the pain. I casually glanced at a review on here after starting the story, and that was when my dumb ass finally noticed that this book also has a tragic ending. That, naturally, filled me with dread, but it was too late; I was hooked already, and besides, if I start a book, I'm finishing the damn thing no matter what. So I powered through it, wondering when and how things would go wrong.Suffice to say they went wronger than I thought they would and I spent an entire day sobbing on and off. (At least I wasn't in public this time like I was for The Song of Achilles. Apologies again to everyone who saw me crying into my sandwich at Subway that day.)I'm very glad I skimmed that review and found out what I'd signed myself up for, because the blow was softened somewhat by my expecting it. Had I not known what was coming, I think it would have destroyed me completely. And I did really enjoy the overall story, even with the gut-punch ending. After tragedy strikes, the story's ending is certainly bittersweet, but it has a more uplifting note than I was expecting. Harlan is broken and grieving, but even so, he is no longer as horribly alone as he was before meeting Billy. Though he has loved and lost, and though he blames himself for what happened to Billy, he has been left with a wealth of things he hadn't had before: a network of loving friends and supporters, a family, a deeper confidence and comfort with his own identity, the experience of having finally known true love, and a new precedent for people like him in his field of sports. It was strangely heartwarming and wholesome for how sad it was.So while the ending was painful, and while I can't wholeheartedly recommend this one because of that, I will say that it was still a beautiful, poignant little story about the nature of true love and the cost of fighting for what you want. I wish I could express my thoughts a little more coherently, but I'm tearing up again just thinking about it. (I do intend to look into the sequels to see how Harlan's story ultimately ends at some point, but I'd like to let the pain fade a little bit before jumping back into his world.) (hide spoiler)]

The Front Runner A Novel

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