Author:York, J. Ronald M.

If you’re into interior decoration and a bit on the camp side, you’re going to love this book. The tale of how an intrepid young queen sets out to furnish his apartment is a laugh a minute, even if you thoroughly disapprove of the way that he and his friends do it, namely by making use of his real estate contacts to learn of furnished units that are standing empty at the moment, which he then breaks into and enters, in search of his latest decor. Not only does Ricky (a.k.a. Nathaniel), the chief protagonist in this criminal milieu, score (in more ways than one!) off his finds, but so do his family and friends. And oh, what good taste he has! It’s the 1970s and nothing is too hip or out of bounds.

If you love fabric and frolic, you’ll revel in the sumptuousness of the pages. “Our two-bedroom town house now had new kitchen wallpaper and draperies. It also had new chocolate-brown, short-shag carpet in the living room and stairway and an antiqued gold umbrella stand and lovely new side chair. I knew that this was just the beginning.” And so it is, as our hero expands his criminal empire to include his lovers and neighbors in his midnight jaunts. Most amusing also is the way in which his parents fret that he is spending far too much on buying them gorgeous gifts, when they know that his salary is not that much. Heaven forbid that their darling boy could land up in serious debt—little do they realize from where he’s getting his ill-gotten gains. The dramatic irony of the piece is likely to have the reader rolling in the aisles, especially if they themselves got up to high jinx as young adults (and who among us didn’t?).

Nathaniel & The Midnight Movers: A Novel (sounds a bit like a rock group, doesn’t it?) is a fun read and great escapist reading, nothing more nor less. For anyone who appreciates, and empathizes with, the LGBTQ crowd, this is great relaxing reading and an ideal book to read while indulging yourself in some much-needed time off!

The wonderful descriptions of interior design and décor that fill this book bear witness to the professional background of the author, award-winning J. Ronald M. York, who was himself an interior designer for two decades, prior to him opening his own art gallery. The light-hearted revelry and glee with which he regales his audience is proof of his multilayered approach to life, another sign of which is his calling his long-term companion puss (now, don’t read too much into that, folks!), Miss Trixie Delight.