R echy, J ohn

Abstract

A prolific writer from the gay and Chicano communities, John Rechy has redefined the American narrative of the late twentieth century by crossing literary genres and challenging cultural perceptions. His many novels, which often blur autobiography with fiction, possess a cinematic quality that reveals the underside of urban spaces and the search for one's identity. Since the late 1950s, Rechy has actively transformed and articulated the way outsiders, particularly homosexuals, have been perceived throughout the United States.