Numbers
John Rechy
Grove Atlantic
<B>An aging male hustler wages an obsessive battle against the passing of his youth in this darkly compelling follow-up to the cult hit <I>City of Night</I>.</B><BR /> <BR /> Johnny Rio, a handsome narcissist no longer a pretty boy, travels to Los Angeles, the site of past sexual conquest and remembered youthful radiance, in a frenzied attempt to recreate his younger self.<BR /> <BR /> Like a retired boxer&#8212;an undefeated champion&#8212;who refuses to accept the possible ravages of time, Johnny is led by some unfathomable force to return to combat once again. Combat, for him, takes place in the dark balconies and dismal bathrooms of LA's all-night movie theaters and on the hot sands of the city's gay beaches. But these are only warm up bouts. The real test, Johnny soon learns, will be in the shaded glens of a rambling park on the outskirts of the city. Through those alcoves, as a gallery of sexhunters emerges, he sets out to discover whether the passage of time&#8212;as...