This book falls into the category of “important art”. It is also, fortunately, “pretty good art”. In all areas of human activity there have been writers and authors who take on a role greater that that of entertainer/artist. They write to clarify, to teach, to inform, to try, in some small way, to change the society for the better. One wonders what attitudes Ms. Warren held when she began working on this significant novel. Whatever her motive there is little doubt that the outcome of her effort is a watershed document for the gay community.
First published in 1974, the work is so seminal that it has undergone several different publications and has been translated into a handful of languages.
I was one of the few people who did not know the plot in its entirety before I read it. That turned out to be simultaneously an advantage and a disadvantage. It was good because I found the book nearly impossible to put down… bad because I got so caught up in the plot that I couldn’t maintain a critical eye to style, pace and vocabulary.
The Front Runner is a love story, the tale of growing affection between a track coach, Harlan Brown, and one of his young college track stars, Billy Sive. It is, like all the best love stories, a tragedy.
Set in upstate New York at a mythical college, the novel chronicles the meeting of the two protagonists, their mutual attraction, their futile denial of feelings, and, finally, the consummation of their relationship.
Their union endures in typical 1970s fashion…a sort of Ayn Randian…“it’s you and me against the world, babe” attitude.
The last part of the book deals with feelings of denial, loss, and grief. The dust jacket shows a pair of broken eye glasses…a strong clue that the story is not entirely a warm and fuzzy one.
I found the story line one that transcends the times in which it was written (but barely), a plot in which the protagonists are realistically portrayed, well developed and clearly characterized.
But the book is not perfect… There are passages where I felt that a man would not have reacted as the (male) character did, or where the feelings described smacked of soap opera bathos. There are also some amusing references to seventies cultural change which never panned out…the growth of “do your own thing” college degree programs never really took off. Neither did velvet and silk men’s wear except for a select group of retro-gays.
In spite of the dated narrative material this is truly an important book…one that deserves to be read by the gay and straight community alike. It portrays same-sex affection, love and lust genuinely. It would help the straight mainstream culture better understand how the gay minority thinks and feels.
I encourage everyone to read The Front Runner, but especially gay men. This book clearly deserves to be the cornerstone of any collection of gay fiction.