Disorderly Men, Edward Cahill
Disorderly Men, Edward Cahill
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
Club: $9.97

Disorderly Men
A Novel

Author: Edward Cahill

Narrator: Eric Fox

Unabridged: 14 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Vibrance Press

Published: 09/20/2023


Synopsis

ONE OF QUEER FORTY'S BEST PRIDE READS FOR SUMMER 2023!
2023 Best Indie Book Award Winner for LGBTQ+ Fiction!
Gold Medal Finalist for 2024 Independent Publisher Book Awards for LGBTQ+ Fiction

Three gay men in pre-Stonewall New York City find their fates thrown together in the police raid of a Village bar.

Roger Moorhouse is a Wall Street banker and Westchester family man with a preciously guarded secret. As the shouting begins and flashlights blaze in his face, the life he’s carefully curated over the years―a fancy new office overlooking lower Broadway, a house in Beechmont Woods, his wife and children―is about to come crashing down around him.

Columbia literature professor Julian Prince lives a comparatively uncloseted life when he finds his first committed relationship tested to its limits. How could he explain to Gus, a fearless young artist, that he couldn’t stay with him that weekend because the woman who was still technically Julian’s fiancée would be visiting? But when Gus is struck unconscious by a police baton, Julian comes out of hiding to protect him, even if exposure means losing everything.

For Danny Duffy, an Irish kid from the Bronx with a sassy mouth and a diverse group of friends, the raid is a galvanizing, Spartacus moment. Danny doesn’t have too much left to lose; his family has just disowned him. But once his name appears in the newspaper, he’ll be fired from his job at Sloan’s Supermarket, where he’s risen to assistant manager of produce, and begin a journey that veers between political enlightenment and violent revenge.

The three men find themselves in a police wagon together, their hidden lives threatened to be revealed to the world. Blackmail, a private investigator, Gus’s disappearance, and Danny’s quest for retribution propel Disorderly Men to its piercing conclusion, as each man meets the boundaries of his own fear, love, and shame. The stakes for each are different, but all of them confront a fundamental question: How much happiness is he allowed to have . . . and what share of it will he lay claim to?

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jarrett

In this era of queer liberation and acceptance, where new sexual orientations seem to be sprouting up every day and parents throw parties when their kids come out as queer, where two people of the same sex can get married in even the most conservative parts of the United States and graphic sex betwe......more

Goodreads review by Matt

Edward Cahill's fiction debut is a thoughtful, researched, meticulous look at the distinct, brittle moment in New York City - the years before Stonewall, where queer men lived their lives in shrouded secrets, in fear of the cops, and desperate to embrace their sexualities with the world against them......more

Goodreads review by jedbird

4.5* In the early 60s in New York, three men are caught up in a raid on a gay bar. One is a married father and businessman who commutes in from Connecticut. One is a professor at Columbia who has just realized he's in love with a young artist. The third (my favorite) is a grocery manager with a large......more

Goodreads review by John

Disorderly Men by Edward Cahill was a lovely experience. Posting a simple external conflict that propels the true story of deep internal conflict of three men. These characters and situations at their core are relatable. Like all good characterizations, I found myself looking past the details to the......more

Goodreads review by Anthony

A page turning novel that grips you with its characters! While admittedly I struggled through the first few chapters, once the plot picked up it totally gripped and consumed me. So much so that I voraciously devoured the last ~250 pages over 2 nights, while constantly thinking about the characters a......more