David Leavitt Book order (chronological)

'Very funny and unexpected, a material response to our times, plush as velvet' Rachel Cusk 'A wickedly funny and emotionally expansive novel' Jenny Offill It is the Saturday after the 2016 presidential election, and in a plush weekend house in Connecticut, a group of New Yorkers has gathered to recover from what they consider the greatest political catastrophe of their lives. Liberal and like-minded, the friends have come to the countryside in the hope of restoring the bubble in which they have grown used to living. Moving through her days accompanied by a carefully curated salon, Eva Lindquist is a generous hostess with an obsession for decorating. Yet when, in her avidity to secure shelter for herself, she persuades her husband to buy a grand if dilapidated apartment in Venice, she unwittingly sets off the chain of events that will propel him to venture outside the bubble and embark on an unexpected love affair. A slyly comic look at the shelter industry, Shelter in Place is a novel about house and home, safety and freedom and the insidious ways in which political upheaval can undermine even the most seemingly impregnable foundations.

Summer 1940, and Lisbon is one of the only neutral ports left in Europe. Awaiting safe passage to New York on the S.S. Manhattan, two couples meet: Pete and Julia Winters, expatriate Americans fleeing their sedate life in Paris; and Edward and Iris Freleng, elegant, independently wealthy, bohemian, and beset by the social and sexual anxieties of their class. Swept up in the tumult, the hidden currents of the lives of these four characters - Julia's status as a Jew, Pete and Edward's affair, Iris's increasingly desperate efforts to save her tenuous marriage - begin to come loose. This journey will change the four of them irrevocably, as Europe sinks into war.

The extraordinary true story of the discovery of one of the greatest mathematicians January, 1913, Cambridge. G.H. Hardy - eccentric, charismatic and considered the greatest British mathematician of his age - receives a mysterious envelope covered with Indian stamps. Inside he finds a rambling letter from a self-professed mathematical genius who claims to be on the brink of solving the most important mathematical problem of his time. Hardy determines to learn more about this mysterious Indian clerk, Srinivasa Ramanujan, a decision that will profoundly affect not only his own life, and that of his friends, but the entire history of mathematics. Set against the backdrop of the First World War, and populated with such luminaries as D.H. Lawrence and Bertrand Russell, "The Indian Clerk" fashions from this fascinating period an utterly compelling story about our need to find order in the world.

A "skillful and literate" ( New York Times Book Review ) biography of the persecuted genius who helped create the modern computer. To solve one of the great mathematical problems of his day, Alan Turing proposed an imaginary computer. Then, attempting to break a Nazi code during World War II, he successfully designed and built one, thus ensuring the Allied victory. Turing became a champion of artificial intelligence, but his work was cut short. As an openly gay man at a time when homosexuality was illegal in England, he was convicted and forced to undergo a humiliating "treatment" that may have led to his suicide.With a novelist's sensitivity, David Leavitt portrays Turing in all his humanity―his eccentricities, his brilliance, his fatal candor―and elegantly explains his work and its implications.

Judith Denham entra nella famiglia Wright a metà degli anni Sessanta come assistente e poi amante del professor Ernest, psicologo. Un evento che cambierà la sua vita, a cominciare dal giorno in cui arriva in casa Wright un vecchio amico, l'eccentrico scrittore Jonah Boyd, che in breve porta scompiglio nella famiglia. Costui ha con sé quattro preziosissimi taccuini su cui ha scritto il suo nuovo romanzo e, quando li dimentica su una panchina, questi vanno perduti per sempre. Boyd non riuscirà più a riscrivere il romanzo, piombando nell'alcolismo e buttando all'aria il matrimonio, fino a morire in un incidente, mentre la famiglia Wright comincerà a sfaldarsi in un intreccio di rancori e di colpe che li allontanerà gli uni dagli altri.

Maurice Hall is a young man who grows up confident in his privileged status and well aware of his role in society. Modest and generally conformist, he nevertheless finds himself increasingly attracted to his own sex. Through Clive, whom he encounters at Cambridge, and through Alec, the gamekeeper on Clive's country estate, Maurice gradually experiences a profound emotional and sexual awakening. A tale of passion, bravery and defiance, this intensely personal novel was completed in 1914 but remained unpublished until after Forster's death in 1970. It offers a powerful condemnation of the repressive attitudes of British society, and is at once a moving love story and an intimate tale of one man's erotic and political self-discovery." "The introduction, by David Leavitt, explores the significance of the novel in relation to Forster's own life and as a founding work of modern gay literature. This edition reproduces the Abinger text of the novel, and includes new notes, a chronology and further reading

Novelist David Leavitt joins the acclaimed THE WRITER AND THE CITY series with a scintillating view of Italy's most adored city.

Set against the backdrop of the ambitious 1980s, the story follows nineteen-year-old Martin Bauman, a talented yet insecure aspiring writer navigating the complexities of literary success and personal identity. Under the mentorship of the influential Stanley Flint, Martin grapples with his dual aspirations: to achieve literary recognition and to embrace his sexuality. The novel intricately explores the interplay between ambition, creativity, and the societal pressures of the era.

An epic - yet fiercely personal - novel about Love, Literature and Lying from one of our most sophisticated and entertaining storytellers

At eighteen, Paul Porterfield aspires to play the piano at the world's great concert halls. So far the closest he has come has been to turn pages of sheet music for his idol, the dashing, temperamental Richard Kennington, a former piano prodigy on the cusp of middle age. Months later, while on holiday with his mother in Italy, Paul encounters Richard a second time. Their earlier attraction develops into an intense affair. As the innocence of first love becomes entangled with the quest for a more enduring happiness, Paul comes to realise that he cannot be a page turner all his life and that he has to confront his ambitions. With artful storytelling, shrewd perception and arch humour, THE PAGE TURNER testifies to the bittersweet truths of strained relationships and the resiliency of the human heart.

*Long-awaited first UK publication of David Leavitt's novel of love and war set during the Spanish Civil War.

Exploring themes of escape and exile, this collection features three novellas that blend humor with poignant moments. In "Saturn Street," a jaded screenwriter finds love while delivering meals to AIDS patients. "The Wooden Anniversary" reunites Nathan and Celia after years apart, delving into their complex relationship. Meanwhile, "The Term-Paper Artist" follows a writer recovering from scandal as he navigates a morally ambiguous arrangement for survival and inspiration. Each story captures the intricacies of human connection and the search for meaning.

A collection of fiction by and about gay men features original stories from Larry Kramer, Edmund White, Christopher Coe, Michael Cunningham, and other writers and explores the tragedies and triumphs of AIDS.

A collection of ten stories which explore the joys and agonies of love and friendship. Each of the stories illuminates a dark corner of human existance. Some are amusing and some are tragic. The author also wrote "Family Dancing", "The Lost Language of Cranes" and "Equal Affections".Contents:A place I've never been --Spouse night --My marriage to vengeance --Ayor --Gravity --Houses --When you grow to adultery --I see London, I see France --Chips is here --Roads to Rome.

The novel explores the intricate dynamics of a family led by the resilient matriarch, Louise Cooper, who has faced a long battle with cancer. As she grapples with her illness and the emotional distance growing between her and her husband, Louise confronts the limitations of her children's love and support. Blending humor and tragedy, the story delves into themes of family, love, and the harsh realities of life, showcasing the depth of human emotions and relationships.

Owen and Rose are facing serious challenges to their married life of routine and monotony as New York City grows and changes around them. They spend most Sundays apart; while Rose buries herself in crosswords and newspapers, Owen visits gay porn theaters. But when they discover they may lose their apartment and their son, prompted by his new relationship, reveals his homosexuality, their lives cannot continue as they were.

Tender, unsettling, and amusing, these stories present families all unhappy in their own different ways. A mother who presides over her local Parents of Lesbians and Gays chapter has trouble accepting her son's lover. A recently separated couple's compulsion to maintain a twenty-six-year tradition seems to magnify futility.