Cover of The Lost Language of Cranes
Gay Fiction

The Lost Language of Cranes

by

  • 1986 first published
  • 336 pages
  • ★ 3.8 (4 ratings)
  • 21 editions
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David Leavitt's The Lost Language of Cranes (1986) is a gay fiction novel. The story is set in Manhattan, New York, N.Y. and New York, State, in the 1980s. Readers will find themes of married people, gay men, padre e hijo and fathers and sons.

Open Library readers give it an average of 3.8 out of 5 from 4 ratings, and 26 more have it on their want-to-read list. It has been published in 21 editions across 5 languages.

At about 336 pages, most readers finish it in 6–7 hours.

About The Lost Language of Cranes

David Leavitt's extraordinary first novel, now reissued in paperback, is a seminal work about family, sexual identity, home, and loss. Set in the 1980s against the backdrop of a swiftly gentrifying Manhattan, The Lost Language of Cranes tells the story of twenty-five-year-old Philip, who realizes he must come out to his parents after falling in love for the first time with a man. Philip's parents are facing their own crisis: pressure from developers and the loss of their longtime home. But the real threat to this family is Philip's father's own struggle with his latent homosexuality, realized only in his Sunday afternoon visits to gay porn theaters. Philip's admission to his parents and his father's hidden life provoke changes that forever alter the landscape of their worlds
Description from Open Library

Themes, setting & tropes

Genres

Tropes

Setting

Era

Subjects

  • Married people
  • Gay men
  • Padre e hijo
  • Fathers and sons
  • Hombres gays
  • Matrimonios
  • Parent and adult child
  • Coming out, Sexual orientation
  • Young men
  • Closeted gays
  • Sexual orientation
  • Real estate development
  • Homosexuales varones
  • Psychological
  • New york, N.y.
  • Homosexuality in literature

Quick answers

Who wrote The Lost Language of Cranes?

The Lost Language of Cranes was written by David Leavitt and first published in 1986.

What genre is The Lost Language of Cranes?

It is usually shelved as Gay Fiction.

How long is The Lost Language of Cranes?

The median edition has 336 pages, about 6–7 hours of reading at 250 words per minute.

What books are similar to The Lost Language of Cranes?

Readers who like it often enjoy P.S. Your cat is dead!, Coming Out and A Queer Kind of Death.

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