A WBS™ Pick! The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara

A WBS™ Pick! The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara

Official Synopsis:

It’s 1980 in New York City, and nowhere is the city’s glamour and energy better reflected than in the burgeoning Harlem ball scene, where seventeen-year-old Angel first comes into her own.

Burned by her traumatic past, Angel is new to the drag world, new to ball culture, and has a yearning inside of her to help create family for those without. When she falls in love with Hector, a beautiful young man who dreams of becoming a professional dancer, the two decide to form the House of Xtravaganza, the first-ever all-Latino house in the Harlem ball circuit. But when Hector dies of AIDS-related complications, Angel must bear the responsibility of tending to their house alone.

As mother of the house, Angel recruits Venus, a whip-fast trans girl who dreams of finding a rich man to take care of her; Juanito, a quiet boy who loves fabrics and design; and Daniel, a butch queen who accidentally saves Venus’s life. The Xtravaganzas must learn to navigate sex work, addiction, and persistent abuse, leaning on each other as bulwarks against a world that resists them.

All are ambitious, resilient, and determined to control their own fates, even as they hurtle toward devastating consequences.

NAMED A RECOMMENDED BOOK OF 2018 BY Buzzfeed • The Wall Street Journal • Bustle • Esquire • Entertainment Weekly • Nylon • Mashable • Libary Journal • Thrillist

“Cassaras’s propulsive and profound first novel, finding one’s home in the world—particularly in a subculture plagued by fear and intolerance from society—comes with tragedy as well as extraordinary personal freedom.” — Esquire

Official Author Bio: Joseph Cassara was born and raised in New Jersey. He holds degrees from Columbia University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. He is the author of THE HOUSE OF IMPOSSIBLE BEAUTIES (Ecco, 2018) which is a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in Gay Fiction, the Edmund White Award for Best Debut Novel, and was the winner of the National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award for Best Fiction Book of 2018. He has been the recipient of fellowships from the MacDowell Colony and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. He is currently an assistant professor of creative writing at the California State University, Fresno.