Reeve thinks his life is over. His career is at an end and his landlord is evicting him because he made too much noise when a hustler beat him up. As he lies in his hospital bed, wondering where his life is headed, he finds himself brooding about the parallel ruin of his mentor Tom Slater, a famous American literary scholar who was betrayed and driven to suicide during the McCarthy era. At once quick-witted, sad, and profound, American Studies is a contemporary gay classic.
Los Angeles Times Book Prize
Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, 1996
Ferro-Grumley Award for Distinction in Gay Writing, 1996
One of the finest first novels to appear in many a moon. Its simple, noble, graceful prose refreshes the very language, and its unsquinting portrayal of gay men is searing and authentic. Merlis’s novel belongs to the best of contemporary literature, gay or other. – Library Journal
Mark Merlis’s first novel accomplishes that great thing that gives fiction its claim on truth: It creates a world so real that readers believe they live in it…This is a book that transcends genre in portraying the abyss that divides one ostracized human soul from all others. – Los Angeles Times
The power of this novel is in Merlis’s writerly skill (his fiercely perfect timing, his flawless, always believable diction), in his comprehension of American cultural history, and ultimately in his human wisdom…With this novel, gay literature enters maturity. – James White Review
Stunningly good…Haunting, funny, and masterfully written, American Studies provides keen insight into our own history and our lives. -- Genre
Desolating, bitterly comic, beautifully written…an eye-opening and heart-opening book. – Richard Wilbur
