description: "It was like viewing a geometric progression in reverse; he saw options as they narrowed: at which stage, at which phase, at which time, at which place he could have still Escaped the building trap: this step taken, that one not, another taken in a different direction: sixteen choices, then four, only two, and finally--..." This Day's Death -- John Rechy With this funneling vision, Jim Girard, the main character of "This Day's Death," sees his life wrestled free of his control and left to channel off into the twin nightmares of hovering death and silent injustice that borders his life. To one side is his aged mother, with whom he lives in Texas, sharing with her the twilight existence of chronic undefined illness; an illness Jim comes to view as a "war" between mother and child, complete with skirmishes based on the fear of lost love and death. On the other side stands a trial in Los Angeles on a charge that exposes Jim to the depths and intricacies of society's twisted conceptions of justice and privacy. Between these two destructive poles, Jim strives to keep what is left of his life--his girl, his job, his future as an aspiring law student--free of the knowledge and implications of the trial and also unscathed by the corrosive attention that his mothers illness demands of him.
language: English
title: This Day's Death
titlecomplete: This Day's Death
genres: Queer, Fiction
ratings_count: 15
publisher: Grove Press