Product Description

"A potent, engrossing meditation on sex, power and the places where each becomes indistinguishable from the other."-Michael Cunningham

Late at night, alone in his cell in a decaying Havana prison, a young American writes a letter to his Cuban lover. In it, he struggles to to find a measure of peace and a greater understanding of how their fiery love affair could have disintegrated so tragically into obsession, jealousy and violence. Because in the morning, he will face a firing squad for a murder he did not commit.

Brendan Lemon is the editor in chief of Out magazine. The former cultural editor for The New Yorker, he lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1272412 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 237 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Out magazine editor-in-chief Lemon makes his fiction debut with a poignant love story set in mid-1980s Cuba. The novel takes the form of a long letter to a young Cuban man from an American on death row in a Cuban prison, written on the eve of his execution. In his sprawling, evocative missive, John Webster relives much of his relationship with boxer Eduardo Garcia, which begins when he catches Eduardo's eye on the streets of Manhattan. Three days of hot and heavy romance ensue (including a steamy night at the Metropolitan Opera) and end with Eduardo's return to Cuba and a promise from John to visit. He does, accompanying a left-wing political group whose members volunteer in the Cuban sugarcane fields. But John soon abandons his comrades to reunite with Eduardo in Havana. An afternoon of frolicking in Coppelia Park ends abruptly when Eduardo confronts a young Cuban thief and ends up beating him to death. In shock, John and Eduardo both flee, but the police quickly apprehend them. A court case rife with homophobia and betrayal determines their separate fates. The book's conceit of a protracted confessional love letter interspersed with atmospheric prison scenes grows wearisome and often feels forced. Yet the lovers' relationship is moving without being saccharine, and Lemon's graceful prose and taut pacing compensate somewhat for the story's creaky foundation.

About the Author
Brendan Lemon is the editor in chief of Out,the nation's largest-selling gay and lesbian magazine. The former cultural editor for The New Yorker, he lives in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Wonderful insight and beautifully written
I wasn't sure what to expect from the Editor in Chief of Out, but I have to say that this is one of the best books I've ever read. It was so beautifully written with wonderful insight into relationships in general. I could identify with many of the characters. I can only imagine what I would be thinking in my cell. Lemon manages to convey so much emotion and poetry from a very unique perspective, that of the man in jail, convicted to die the next morning. Riveting as you wonder what will happen next. So many surprises. Did I mention the beautiful prose? Definitely on my recommended list.

My favorite book this year!
Just as I thought I was getting tired of gay-themed novels, along came Last Night. Before reading it, I was skeptical about the fact that the entire narrative is a man's letter from jail. However, to my delight, Lemon pulled it off wonderfully. As John Webster, the main character, takes us through the events leading up to his imprisonment, Lemon achieves a good balance of both thoughtful reflection (about life, love, etc.) and suspense-filled action that keeps you reading all the way through to the climax. Depictions of life in Cuba, prison, death from AIDS, sex, and the cross-cultural cross-generational relationship of Webster and Eduardo -- all of these come across so real, so natural. This book was an excellent read.

A Very Good First Novel
"They're coming for me in the morning. Whether the news will be death or deliverance I do not know." Thus, Brendan Lemon begins this very engaging novel, the story of John Webster, an American, and his lover, Eduardo, a younger Cuban boxer. The story is told from the perspective of John, who as the novel begins, is writing from a jail cell in Cuba to Eduardo and does not know whether he will live or die. Webster is accused of murdering a young teenage Cuban, a crime actually committed by Eduardo. Although in his Acknowledgments page Lemon lists Reinaldo Arenas' BEFORE NIGHT FALLS as one of his influences, he assures the reader that he has never "set foot" in Cuba. This tale, however, is quite believable...Wondrously suspenseful, the book is a page turner. My chief criticism is that after all the buildup-- we literally do not know if this is John's "last night"-- the story ends rather abruptly and not totally to my satisfaction. The novel is still a good one, however, with interesting characters and a poignant love story. A great find, well worth your time. I would certainly read Mr. Lemon's next one.