Gene Touchet: Gene Touchet teaches theater and literature in Los Angeles, where he has been a longtime associate of ONE Institute.
The Death of Friends, by Michael Nava, as anyone who is a fan of Henry Rios knows, marks the return of the gay, recovering alcoholic, Hispanic, defense lawyer. He's been gone too long.
The plot is vintage Nava. The murder investigation twists; the straw perpetrators are propped up and tantalizingly dangled, then exonerated. However, “Murder will out” as Chaucer wrote many a year ago. Don't let my paragraph turn you off. This book is a page turner. The characters are interesting, and Los Angeles is nicely limned, if a bit tartly.
The true value of the book, to my way of thinking, is the sub-text. The closet will kill. The closet will destroy friendships and love affairs. It will kill honor, and it will kill integrity. It will hide the truth and it will sap esteem. Nava's take on the closet is worth the time to read the book. Henry Rios is lagniappe.
Nava quotes Jesus about being honest and open. Let's throw in Nathanial Hawthorne,too; if Arthur had been open, his life with Hester would've been a lot better. “Be true. Be true. Be true.” Let's all follow Nava: Let's all be honest and open. And let's all read this nice little book.
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