An Arrow's Flight

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An Arrow's Flight
Mark Merlis - An Arrow's Flight.jpeg
Author Mark Merlis
LanguageEnglish
Publisher St. Martin's Press
Publication date
August 1998
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages376 pp
ISBN 978-0-312-18675-3
OCLC 38150357
813/.54 21
LC Class PS3563.E7422 A89 1998

An Arrow's Flight is a 1998 novel by American author Mark Merlis.

Contents

Plot summary

Pyrrhus lives in the city with his simple housemate Leucon. He works as a waiter at a dead-end restaurant, then soon finds himself working as a hustler. One day, he hears from Phoenix that his father Achilles has left him some inheritance in Troy after dying in battle, and he decides to claim it. On the ship, he sleeps with Corythus, a sailor. He soon learns he needs to seduce Philoctetes and get his bow for a prophecy to come true. He grows attached to the old man, though the latter also has an affair with Paris. Finally, Philoctetes breaks the bow. Pyrrhus meets Leucon again in a hospital where Pyrrhus is waiting to see his lover Philoctetes, who is very sick; the latter realizes he no longer has feelings for Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus understands that he has grown and accepted his sexuality and is able to live openly, something Leucon cannot do. (The novel hints that he probably never will.)

Main characters

Literary significance


References

  1. "Lambda Literary Foundation :: LL Awards Recipients :: 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999". Archived from the original on April 18, 2008. Retrieved August 3, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 "Interview". Markmerlis.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  3. Norman W. Jones (2007). Gay and Lesbian Historical Fiction Sexual Mystery and Post-Secular Narrative . Palgrave Macmillan. p.  140. ISBN   978-1-4039-7655-0.