The House of Impossible Beauties: 'Equal parts attitude, intelligence and eyeliner.' - Marlon James

(Paperback)

Available Formats

---

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

A gritty and gorgeous debut thatfollows a cast of gay and transgenderclub kids navigating the Harlemballroom scene of the 1980s and90s, inspired by the real House ofXtravaganza made famous by theseminal documentary Paris Is Burning Its 1980 in New York City, and nowhere is the citys glamour and energy better reflected than in the burgeoning Harlem ballroom scene, where seventeen-year-old Angel first comes into her own. Burned by her traumatic past, Angel is new to the drag world, and has a yearning to help create a family for those without. When she falls in love with Hector, a beautiful young man who dreams of becoming a professional dancer, the two decide to form the House of Xtravaganza, the first-ever all-Latino house in the ballroom circuit. Into the house come Venus, a whip-smart trans girl who dreams of finding a rich man to take care of her; Juanito, a quiet boy who loves fabrics and design; and Daniel, a butch queen who accidentally saves Venus life. The Xtravaganzas must learn to navigate sex work, addiction and persistent abuse, leaning on each other as bulwarks against a world that resists them. All are ambitious, resilient and determined to control their own fates, even as they hurtle toward devastating consequences. Told in a voice that brims with wit, rage, tenderness, and fierce yearning,The House of Impossible Beautiesis a tragic story of love, family, and the dynamism of the human spirit.

Reviews

'Cassara has written a heartbreaking tale of gay men struggling to survive in a world of clubbing and drugs. It is also an unexpected love story.'

-- Graham Norton * Top Five Reads of 2018 *

The House of Impossible Beauties tells of a search not only for respect but, above all, love in a time and place that seeks to starve its characters of both From these threads of fact and myth, Cassara runs up a fictional ensemble that craftily stitches glamour and grit.

* Financial Times *

Vivid and engaging...The novel feels like an anthropological plunge into another era, enhanced by rhythmic, urban prose littered with slang and Spanglish.

* The Economist *

Vibrant The House of Impossible Beautiesis especially strong at detailing the sadness of queer life This is not a bleak novel, however far from it. The scenes of love and support between the characters have a kindness that more than matches the sadness, and the dialogue, peppered with early 80s disco or TV references and Spanglais dialect, is frequently hilarious [offering] a convincing insight into the world in which they lived.

* Guardian *

Cassaras beautiesactually does the impossible. It cuts bone deep into a scene thats all surface, mines the grit that produces glitter, and finds burning life in this lost generation of beautiful and damned. The novel strikes a flame the way a character strikes a pose equal parts attitude, intelligence and eyeliner.

* Marlon James, Man Booker Prize-winning author of A Brief History of Seven Killings *

My favourite book of this year is a fictional imagining of the back stories of the House of Xtravaganza, the subject of Jenny Livingstons peerless voguing documentary, Paris Is Burning.

* Paul Flynn, Evening Standard *

Vividly imagined... Riveted by their stories, you are so struck by the Xtravaganzas strength and determination, by their vibrant spirits and humour, by their creativity, by their sensitivity to beauty and their capacity to give and receive love.

* New York Times Book Review *

Gritty, fiercely impressive... Joseph Cassara has written a lithe, fiery and incredibly authentic story. A future queer classic.

* Attitude *

Fabulous...a grand, beautiful tale of art, love and the human spirit.

* Elle *

A vibrant and dynamic debut novel.

* Cosmopolitan Magazine *

Cassarass propulsive and profound first novel, finding ones home in the world particularly in a subculture plagued by fear and intolerance from society comes with tragedy as well as extraordinary personal freedom.

* Esquire *

'A heartbreaking yet uplifting account of one of the most culturally influential yet oppressed groups in modern history.'

* Shakespeare & Co Book of the Year *

A must for fans of RuPauls Drag Race, this novel is inspired by the characters who inhabited the dizzying world we first saw in Paris Is Burning, the 1990 documentary.

* Metro *

This is a definitive LGBTQ family story, of the sweep and intimacy thats typical in family sagas while also steeped in the trauma and sass specific to its milieu.

* Entertainment Weekly *

Aheartbreaking novel that burns brightly.

* Buzzfeed *

A marvelously serious, deep, artful, humane read Theres so much downright gorgeous prose here.

* Paul Harding, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Tinkers *

Fierce, tender, and heartbreaking.

* Kirkus *

'A fascinating slice of history that looks at a world driven and created by trans women, when those voices have so often been written out of the story.'

* Press Association *

Cassara has done a superb job of reimagining a world that will be foreign and even exotic to many readers, while creating fully developed characters to populate it. The tone is singularly apposite... A compassionate story, which is altogether moving and unforgettable.

* Booklist *

Passionate...empathetic and vibrant.

* Entertainment Weekly *

An exceptional first novel... The writing is erotically luscious, lyrically intense, forthrightly in your face, and pitch-perfect in the dialog.

* Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal starred review *

Cassara writes of a community that glitters in the face of an ugly world. Joy and loss clutch hands inThe House of Impossible Beauties. It is a tragic book, a lyrical book, a defiant book, and ultimately a loving book. The heroines and heroes hold fast to love and Cassara clearly has deep love for every character who struts across these pages.

* Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of Harmless Like You *

A beautiful and often painful combination of glitter and grit in 1980s New York. I've never read anything like it.

* Lilys New Year Reads, London Review Bookshop *

Its impossible to not feel utterly transported, to feel the hum of the music in your cells, to vibrate with the energy of the time and place, with all its attendant exhilarating highs and devastating lows.

* Nylon Magazine *

Some debut novelsare much anticipated... Others seem to come out of nowhere. Who knew Joseph CassarasThe House of Impossible Beautieswould be that good... Either way, debut novels are always a surprise, and therein lies their power.

* PW FirstAnd Foremost *

'...when I need to be transported far away from the here and now, I'll turn to Joseph Cassara's vivid The House of Impossible Beauties, a beautiful and heartbreaking book set in 1980s New York.'

* Dazed *

'Inspired by the real House of Xtravaganza, made famous by the documentary Paris is Burning, Cassara's novel is a tragic story of love, family, and the dynamism of the human spirit.'

* Manchester Evening News *

Intimate and dazzlinga novel full of desire and suspense and heartbreak.

* Margot Livesey, author of The Flight of Gemma Hardy *

'Underneath the grime and glitter, The House of Impossible Beauties is quietly about necessity and defiance, about love and death, about characters who ache to be alive and seen in a world that mirrors back nothing but rejection and violence.'

* Nami Mun, author of Miles From Nowhere *

In Joseph Cassara's powerful story about the scene in New York in the 1980s, it is full of vivid characters and wonderfully authentic dialogue that reminded me of the period I spent working in the city during that time. For me, it was especially gratifying to see how important Martha Graham and Alvin Ailey -- those two giantsof American Contemporary Dance -- feature in the life of the fabulous Xtravaganzas.

* Stuart Hopps, choreographer *

Brilliant! So evocative, so moving, and unfortunately still so current, given all the PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) and chemsex discussions at the moment.

* Tristan Barber, Consultant Physician (Sexual Health/HIV), Chelsea and Westminster Hospital *

Author Bio

Joseph Cassara was born and raised in New Jersey. He holds degrees from Columbia University and the Iowa Writers Workshop and has been a writing fellow at the Fine Arts Centre in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The House of Impossible Beauties is his first novel. He lives in Iowa.