Cathedral City is the first novel by this author and is, indeed, a valiant first try. I believe it to be what the author intended, a novel which could easily become a movie. This is not surprising since Hinton had to his credit the movies, Circuit, It’s My Party, and Getting It Right before trying his hand at a novel.
The plot especially is movie-like and that is not necessarily a bad thing. It does tend, I think, to make the action somewhat linear. It also forces the author to rely on plot and action over character development to hold our attention.
The cast of characters is pretty well contained, with the dual action circling around a love triangle, Kenny, Nick and Maria. A second action plotline running in tandem with the love interest circles around Sam Singer, his wife Ruthie and the bar/restaurant/club they own.
Lots of activity, much of is interesting, some depressing, but little in real character insight. We learn about the three leads in factual narrative devoid of emotion… Hinton seems not to empathize with any of his characters. The feeling in learning of Kenny’s childhood, Nick’s early years, and Maria’s early-age losses is dry, almost flat. Reports written for the use of courts in criminal and family issues often have this style…accurate and narrative but without warmth. For the court this is a good thing. For a novel it is not.
Cathedral City itself is, like NYC in Dancer From the Dance, a character as well, dying and undergoing urban renewal surgery. It is against this background that the characters try to save the neighborhood watering hole as an historical site. The place survives, as do most of the characters but, like “Nick’s”, in a much-changed iteration.
I was especially bothered by the manner in which the characters interacted. Nick and Kenny, partnered for a couple of decades, had early on fallen into a co-dependent relationship: Nick as alcoholic, Kenny as long-suffering enabler. I don’t empathize but I can understand. What was weird, maybe even inaccurate, was the outcome. Nick, without prodding from Kenny, decided to dry out (“When it hurts badly enough you’ll do something about it”). Kenny now without his enabling role seemed nevertheless to move ahead with Nick with only minimal adjustment. Other, less glaring, behaviors occur throughout.
So...should you read it? Probably not, especially if you have only limited time for reading. I can think of many other gay books where your time could be better spent.
On the other had if this were a movie it’d be worth watching.