I read Whores of Lost Atlantis back when first published in 1993. I enjoyed every single page so much I immediately read the novel a second time. Outrageously entertaining. I recently picked up the novel and savored a third reading.
For those unacquainted with Charles Busch, he strutted his stuff as one of the premier drag queens in the East Village back in the 1980s, those vibrant years when the avant-garde performance scene reached its zenith. Several theater artists and groups performing at such venues as Dixon Place and P.S. 122 went on to win commercial success - among their number, Spalding Grey, Blue Man Group and Charles Busch with his Vampire Lesbians of Sodom which enjoyed a long run of more than 2,000 shows and made Charles something of a cult figure. Oh, you diva!
Whores of Lost Atlantis is Charles Busch's semiautobiographical, fictionalized account of those early salad days when he struggled working as a part-timer- office temp, envelope stuffer, telemarketer, retail salesperson - while he and his merry, ragtag troupe performed a couple times a week at a hip garage theater/performance space/art gallery by the name of Golgotha for the sheer joy of it. One highlight: narrator Julian typed out his Whores of Lost Atlantis in a fit of artistic inspiration one morning and afternoon between answering the phone as a receptionist for a Wall Street investment firm.
Oh, yes, Charles takes on the name of Julian Young in the novel and off stage Julian is nothing if not a star-struck gossip and comic prankster. And Julian has gobs to gossip about since a gaggle of colorful, mostly gay eccentrics make up his troupe, a troupe his christens Imitation of Life Theater. Forming their number, we have Julian’s friend Joel he’s known since college, mercurial Zoe, hunk Buster, scatterbrain, overweight Camille, anorexic exhibitionist Roxie and new age Perry.
Oh, how Julian luxuriates in gossip and reflections on the East Village's hard-edged culture – examples of our leading lady in action:
"I left Zoe and Perry still wielding their eyebrow pencils and proceeded to Golgotha. If I had been apprehensive about walking through that bizarre neighborhood in full drag makeup, I needn't have worried. I was by far the most normal individual walking the streets that night."
"I share with Roxie my utter fascination with myself, but we also loved discussing other people's lives. When you get down to it, Roxie and I loved to gossip. But our whole group did too, except perhaps Joel. I don't want Joel to come off as prissy or goody-goody, but at times he seemed like a weary camp counselor shepherding an unruly group of preteens. Our favorite activity was gossiping about one another."
"We were all amazed at how swiftly our fame grew. By our fourth month at Golgotha, a long line would form at every performance. The queue would include hard-core skinheads, West Village gay men, hip straight couples who sought entertainment that was both dangerous and safe, and then there were the celebrities."
Julian adds a special sparkle to his narrative by continually alluding to and likening nearly all of life to leading ladies of the silver screen - one memorable instance is Julain's musings on his being raised by his wifty Aunt Jen who also happened to be his theatrical soulmate. "Hadn't Aunt Jen, the most important person in my life, fashioned herself from one part Lillian Gish, one part Roz Russell, one part Katharine Hepburn, and one part Lucy Ricardo? During my first thirty years, how many times had Aunt Jen saved me from the abyss during the last reel? We'd shard so many adventures, both comic and dramatic, whenever I said good-bye to her, I half-expected credits to roll."
In addition to leading his zanies through the cold realities of urban life and his many flings in the sack with a particularly provocative man, Julian and his troupe must deal with a brushing with the New York Police, a serious bit of illegality that has poor Julian huddled up in a jail cell. But this is a minor riff; the major thrust of the novel revolves around putting on the play.
In his New York Times book review, Robert Plunket complained the novel restricted itself to being all about, just that, putting on a play. As one of Mr. Plunket's teachers insisted, "Make it about life and death."
Actually, I think Robert Plunket underestimates the critical importance theater has for men and women like Julian Young. For Julian, financial success performing on stage is life in abundance and working part-time crap jobs to scrape away in poverty is death - it's a simple as that for someone whose entire spirit is entwined with the theater.
Having written a successful novel serves as icing on the theatrical cake. Pick up a copy of Whores of Lost Atlantis and turn on the spotlight.
American performer, playwright, novelist Charles Busch, born 1954
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