Bear Bones Books is pleased to announce the release of Wayne Hoffman’s novel, Hard, available now in softcover from Amazon and in an e-reader edition on Kindle.
It’s New York City in the late 1990s. There’s an ongoing public campaign to close down adult businesses. And gay men are deeply involved in the crackdown–on both sides. Moe Pearlman’s sex life is under attack. A conservative mayor is closing down bathhouses, sex clubs and adult theaters — with the secret cooperation of Frank DeSoto, publisher of the only gay newspaper in town. As the crackdown escalates, the tensions between Moe and Frank boil over into a full-scale battle — and, eventually, a personal tug-of-war — between two people with opposing ideas of what it means to be a gay man in the age of AIDS. Moe thinks he might have accidentally stumbled upon romance when he meets Max Milano, but after Max walks in on Moe and several buddies during a steamy scene, Moe finds that the man of his dreams might not be able to handle such a promiscuous boyfriend. And Frank, after a decade-long drought, is enjoying a sexual rebirth as his 50th birthday approaches, but he’s not sure if he can find a partner without having to pay for it. Added to this mix is Aaron Chiles, Moe’s best friend, who’s having trouble accepting the fact that his new boyfriend is a hustler. Meanwhile, Gene Macintosh, Moe’s HIV-positive ex-lover, is delighted to find that his viral load is undetectable, but his obsessive partner still treats him like a health risk. From backrooms to newsrooms, the Meatrack to City Hall, Hard explores a world where sex is a matter of life or death, and politics make the strangest bedfellows.
- Author photograph by Frank Mullaney
- Cover photograph by David Grey/Yogabear
Praise for Wayne Hoffman’s HARD
“Think Woody Allen meets ACT UP.”
— Michael Bronski, author, A Queer History of the United States
“A knockout. Reading Hard reminds us that the important, strong and vital gay novel is still with us. It vividly and movingly captures what it means to be an urban gay man living in the last decade of the 20th century, when everything looked so bleak and yet so bright at the same time.”
— Guide Magazine
“A breath of fresh air in gay male fiction.”
— Lambda Book Report
“Sexual politics — both public and private — play out against the cityscape of mid-1990s Manhattan in Hoffman’s absorbing year-in-the-life of a group of gay men. . . . The larger issues of sexual rights and aids add depth to their voices, making this sexually explicit debut novel an intriguing exploration of politics and psyche.”
— Publishers Weekly
“Hard makes political activism sexier than it’s been in years. As hot as it is humorous.”
— Chicago Free Press
“Smart, fast-paced, raunchy and funny, a sexy comic strip of a novel about the way gay men live now.”
— Christopher Bram, author, Gods and Monsters
“This is one debut novel that packs a no-holds-barred wallop.”
—Gay and Lesbian Times
“A quick-paced debut that neatly straddles the fence between politics and porn. By turns erotic and vulnerable, playful and deadly serious, Hard is refreshingly easy to like.”
— Aaron Hamburger, author, Faith for Beginners
Be sure to also check out the novella, AN OLDER MAN, Wayne’s sequel to HARD.
