num_pages: 300
description: Gunther is fifteen when he arrives alone in the Berlin of the 1920s. Soon he discovers the boys of Friedrich Street, and the men who stroll by and speak with them. In the notorious Passage, he is spotted by Hermann Graff, a sensitive and naive young man who becomes hopelessly enamoured with Gunther. But love does not fit neatly in Gunther's new life as a hustler...Gunther's story was first published in 1926, in Germany. One reviewer wrote at that time that the novel "belongs to the few books in the literature on 'our subject' that may raise a claim to art." Today it will be welcomed both as a poignant love story, and as a colorful portrayal of the gay subculture that thrived in Berlin during the 1920s."I have always loved this book dearly - despite and even because of its occasional sentimental absurdities. It gives a picture of the Berlin sexual underworld early in this century which I know, from my own experience, to be authentic" - Christopher Isherwood.
language: German
title: The Hustler
titlecomplete: The Hustler
genres: LGBT, Gay, Queer, Gay Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fiction, German Literature
ratings_count: 104
places: Berlin
publisher: Alyson Publications