A Single Man

A Single Man was Christopher Isherwood's own favorite among his novels and the book that brought him back into the public eye in the twenty-first century.

Welcome to sunny suburban 1960s Southern California. George is a gay middle-aged English professor, adjusting to life on his own after the tragic death of his young partner. He is determined to persist in the routines of daily life. A Single Man follows him over the course of one day, an ordinary twenty-four hours. Behind his British reserve, tides of grief, rage, and loneliness surge—but what is revealed is a man who loves being alive despite all the everyday injustices.

When A Single Man first appeared, it shocked many with its frank, sympathetic, and moving portrayal of a gay man in midlife. Now it stands as a beautiful, lyrical meditation on life as an outsider. Wry, suddenly manic, constantly funny, surprisingly sad, the novel catches the texture of life itself.

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