Sketchtasy

September 15, 2018
At the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis, Boston nightclub queen Alexa and her friends navigate the pitfalls of 1990s romance together, stumbling as one united front through acne, bad dates, bad trips, and the risks of sex work. Between the all-nighters fueled by ketamine, cocaine, and ecstasy, Alexa works to make peace with her past. With the help of therapist-led hypnosis, she comes to terms with the childhood sexual abuse she endured at the hands of her father. Through the torment of losing friends to drugs and AIDS, Alexa marches on, never giving up hope that a brighter future is possible. She moves in with a rich sugar daddy, regularly makes love to an old friend, and still makes time for nights out to celebrate being alive. Alexa is an icon unseen since the pages of Hubert Selby Jr.'s Last Exit to Brooklyn (1964). As stupefying and white-hot as the drugs coursing through Alexa's veins, Sycamore's latest is a love letter to and a formal complaint about the glitter and horror of the 1990s.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)