Description: "Abused by his father and stifled by closeted life as a teenager in Kansas City, Joe, the wide-eyed narrator of Tramps like us, graduates from high school in 1974 and hits the road hitch-hiking with Ali, his hometown's other queer outcast. Joe and Ali soon find communities of misfits to call their own, first in New Orleans, and later on in San Francisco. The days and nights blur, a blend of LSD and heroin, New Wave and disco, orgies and friends, and the spontaneity of youth--all of which is threatened te moment Joe, Ali, and seemingly everyone around them are diagnosed with HIV. But miraculously, the stories survive"--Page 4 of cover.
Brief description: Joe Westmoreland is the author of the novel Tramps Like Us, originally published in 2001. His writing has appeared in several anthologies, zines, and catalogues for art exhibitions. He lives with his partner, the artist Charles Atlas, in New York City.
Review Quotes:
"An epic, moving and ebullient gay road-trip novel, set in the 1970s and early '80s, that doesn't have a pretentious bone in its body. It reads like an avid, feverishly detailed letter that the author wrote and mailed directly to readers . . . one of this summer's earliest literary tent poles. A book this perceptive but amiably unpolished, that pops as if in Kodachrome colors, that deals out tablespoons of American simplicity and horniness and delight, might seem like a small thing to look for, but it's a big thing to find. It made me feel I had my left hand on the wheel of a car, and the right on the radio dial." --Dwight Garner, The New York Times
"A gem from the queer underground canon." --Emma Alpern, New York " classic of queer literature--one that crystallizes the agony and the ecstasy of coming of age during the HIV era . . . Westmoreland's writing is never thorny, never concertedly philosophical or self-scrutinizing, never ornamented or filigreed--just wide-eyed, stark, and suffused by turns in fear and wonder . . . Westmoreland asks you to look his characters in the eye, to feel their essential humanness as they love each other while their world first blooms and then falls apart." --Sasha Geffen, The Nation "An overheated cross between John Rechy and Gregg Araki that follows two young sexpots on a funny, often poignant road trip of hedonism and self-discovery. It's a journey that allows our hero to move past a painful adolescence and come of age without losing his innocence. "--Erik Maza, The Cut "[Joe's] coming-of-age story . . . suggests how impermanent queer self-discovery is, a constant jaws-of-life procedure attended by losses, reversals, cliff-hangers, and narrow escapes . . . His story is a valentine to queer friendship, which saves his life and breaks his heart, the way love always does in the end." --Jeremy Lybarger, 4Columns
"Searing and breathless . . . redolent of its era without ever being a relic of it . . . Westmoreland's blend of noise and sights, romance and friendship, render a portrait of queer joy as a hard-earned victory of survival." --Joel Danilewitz, The Brooklyn Rail "Tramps Like Us is, at its heart, the archetypal queer chronicle of self-discovery and becoming . . . it's more importantly a tale, almost a love letter, in praise of community . . . If you're in search of home, Tramps Like Us is a good place to start." --Joseph Akel, The Whitney Review
"Tramps Like Us delivers a raw and honest look at youth, friendship and resilience . . . [Westmoreland's] clean, unadorned, sometimes laugh-out-loud funny prose invites the reader along as Westmoreland fearlessly burns his way through passionate love affairs, raucous sex clubs, and drug-fueled debauchery, while simultaneously laying the ground for tender lifelong friendships. The adventure skids out with the advent of AIDS, Westmoreland's carefree voice growing weary as his community holds tight, then slips away. Westmoreland himself survived and has lived to see the rediscovery and celebration of his joyful, grievous minor masterpiece." --PASSPORT Magazine
"Joe Westmoreland's Tramps Like Us is irresistible: a spare, unflinching, generous & lusty masterpiece of adventure writing, that great adventuring queer quest for sex & friendship & love & home." --Andrea Lawlor, author of Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl "An achievement, in the major category." ―Hilton Als, author of My Pinup "Tramps Like Us is charming and sweet, even when it's about sex and drugs - even in the face of the inevitable loss of health, life and innocence. A necessary reminder of the beauty of being young and queer and free. This book is a gift. Thanks, Joe." ―Imogen Binnie, author of Nevada "The journey queer people must take to understand the odd hand that fate has dealt them is one of the great dramas of our time and Joe Westmoreland's trip is one of the best I've ever come across. For younger gay people it's a first hand look at our culture being formed. For older queers it's a heart-breaker. I was crying by the end but strangely proud of my own life and struggle. This is a very important book." --Robert Plunket, author of Love Junkie "Joe Westmoreland has created a story that's epic and intimate, raunchy and reflective, a love letter to exploration, sex, and the glorious messiness of trying to survive while the ground keeps shifting under your feet. Most of all, it's a story about the meaning-making power of friendship and the families we create as we stumble through the world. Clear eyed, funny, and deeply moving, Tramps Like Us is a marvel." --Thomas Grattan, author of In Tongues
"Wow, once you get on the Tramps Like Us train, you'll never want to get off. What a gorgeous, drug-fueled, scrappy, raunchy, hilarious, and heartbreaking adventure. In the most wonderful way, Joe Westmoreland disrupts the traditional coming of age story―imagine if Tom and Huck were queer and loved getting high and sleeping with each other! It was by the skin of his teeth that Westmoreland escaped his abusive father and hitched a ride to freedom, where he found his best friend, his true family, and his true self in the hedonistic, pre-AIDS era of New Orleans and San Francisco. Though, of course, things fall apart―freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose―and AIDS does rear its head, and so this is also a story of unimaginable loss. Most of all, it should be required reading." --Alexandra Auder, author of Don't Call Me Home