Destination Unknown, Bill Konigsberg
Destination Unknown, Bill Konigsberg
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Destination Unknown

Author: Bill Konigsberg

Narrator: Pete Cross

Unabridged: 13 hr 3 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/06/2022


Synopsis

From Stonewall Award winner Bill Konigsberg, a remarkable, funny, sexy, heartbreaking story of two teen boys finding each other in New York City at the height of the AIDS epidemic.The first thing I noticed about C.J. Gorman was his plexiglass bra.So begins Destination Unknown -- it's 1987 in New York City, and Micah is at a dance club, trying to pretend he's more out and outgoing than he really is. C.J. isn't just out -- he’s complete out there, and Micah can't help but be both attracted to and afraid of someone who travels so loudly and proudly through the night.A connection occurs. Is it friendship? Romance? Is C.J. the one with all the answers... or does Micah bring more to the relationship that it first seems? As their lives become more and more entangled in the AIDS epidemic that’s laying waste to their community, and the AIDS activism that will ultimately bring a strong voice to their demands, whatever Micah and C.J. have between them will be tested, strained, pushed, and pulled -- but it will also be a lifeline in a time of death, a bond that will determine the course of their futures.In Destination Unknown, Bill Konigsberg returns to a time he knew well as a teenager to tell a story of identity, connection, community, and survival.

About Bill Konigsberg

Bill Konigsberg is from New York City. Konigsberg was a sports writer and editor for years, earning a GLAAD Media Award for his ESPN column Sports World Still a Struggle for Gays. He won the Lambda Literary Award in 2007 for his first novel, Out of the Pocket. Konigsberg lives in Arizona with his husband, who is clearly too good for him, and their dogs, Mabel & Buford.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Ali on April 25, 2024

I really liked this book! I think the author did such an amazing job tackling so many tough topics like how hard it is to be gay in general, but especially in the 1980s when there was so much hate, misinformation, and the AIDS epidemic. This book is majority general fiction/coming of age but I also......more

Goodreads review by Bill on December 14, 2021

When I was 16, I got in an argument with my stepfather. I had just come out to him, and then I came out to another family member. When he heard about this, he became enraged. He sat me down and told me I had to stop airing my dirty laundry to people. I explained to him that coming out wasn't about ai......more

Goodreads review by Marieke on September 18, 2022

I really wanted to read Destination Unknown even though I had already read another YA book about gay boys and AIDS that came out earlier this year: When You Call My Name.   The books have so many similarities but are very different at the same time. Destination Unknown is the lighter and more humorous......more

Goodreads review by Evelyn on May 01, 2022

I read this on the plane today, and honestly I don’t understand why nobody is talking about this book. I’d never heard of it before I picked up a copy at Y’ALL West, and it was one of the most powerful books I’ve read this year. Every single character was so complex I had to check to make sure I was......more


Quotes

Praise for Destination Unknown:"Bill Konigsberg's Destination Unknown masterfully takes us back to one of the most difficult chapters in queer history with the kind of astounding specificity that comes from lived experience. The book is a beautiful account of the way hope, love, and connection will bloom even in the darkest of times. It's a love story, a celebration of queer resilience and a must read." -- Abdi Nazemian, author of Stonewall Honor book Like a Love Story* "[T]he arguable best of Konigsberg's excellent novels, and that's high praise indeed." -- Booklist, starred review* "[A] tour de force: an exploration of a relationship that pulls back the curtains on queer 1980s New York City to reveal a community wrestling with life and death... Historical fiction at its finest." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review"Konigsberg's keen sense of time and place, coupled with an optimistic atmosphere, make for both a swoony romance and a sensitive, nuanced look into a tumultuous period in history." -- Publishers Weekly"An intense but ultimately uplifting purchase crucial to augmenting any historical fiction collection." -- School Library Journal