This Gay Writer's Memoir About NYC Nightlife Is Ready for Its Close-Up
Eli's Coming, a gay boy from Louisiana with Greek heritage that dates to ancient Sparta ends up in New York City’s underground in the 1970s.
Later, there’s an ashram in India, a sociopathic boyfriend, a dead body, and a lot of international drug smuggling. (Readers will discover just how many condoms full of drugs one man can, uh, utilize.) It’s been described as Boogie Nights meets American Hustle but with a young gay man at center.
Still, it’s thus far unpublished. We checked in with the author, Louie Mandrapilias, who spent many years working for The Advocate and Out as a graphic designer, about the memoir. Your description of your first night at Studio 54 is lovely.
How did it feel to be a formerly closeted gay kid from the South suddenly in the biggest LGBTQ-friendly disco in New York City?The mere idea of being able to get into the place I had read about in Andy Warhol's Interview magazine was beyond my wildest dreams.
