Title: Real life
Description: "A novel of rare emotional power that excavates the social intricacies of a late-summer weekend -- and a lifetime of buried pain. Almost everything about Wallace, an introverted African-American transplant from Alabama, is at odds with the lakeside Midwestern university town where he is working toward a biochem degree. For reasons of self-preservation, Wallace has enforced a wary distance even within his own circle of friends -- some dating each other, some dating women, some feigning straightness. But a series of confrontations with colleagues, and an unexpected encounter with a young straight man, conspire to fracture his defenses, while revealing hidden currents of resentment and desire that threaten the equilibrium of their community"--
Subjects: American literature, Fiction, african american, general, Fiction, gay, New York Times reviewed, Fiction, african american & black, general, African American gay men, Fiction, Graduate students, FICTION / Literary, FICTION / LGBT / Gay, FICTION / African American / General, Friendship, Interpersonal relations, Fiction, lgbtq+, gay, collection:edmund_white_award=finalist