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"Rasheed Newson delivers another triumph and staple of queer literature with this noir-style, page turning novel that captures both the regretful and hopeful timelessness of the gay struggle. If Hollywood has only one sin, I hope this book is part of its salvation." –Byron Lane, author of Big Gay Wedding
"Unabashedly erotic, irresistible, and heartbreaking, There's Only One Sin in Hollywood exposes the hidden gay world of the movies-the connections, dealings, and dramas of its Black figures-with panache and authority. Sparkling with real-life and invented Hollywood stars, and threaded with a complicated love of the movies, Rasheed Newson's second novel is an American tale of the first order. It will grip you until the last page."
–Richard Mirabella, Author of Brother & Sister Enter the Forest
"Living up to its provocative title, Rasheed Newson's There's Only One Sin in Hollywood offers a deft and deliciously decadent excavation of Black queer history. Sexy, sly, and with a piquant sense of humor, Newson's prose handily shuttles you between glittering post-war Hollywood backlots and dimly-lit lurid cruising spots in Griffith Park-all while making a period piece about a fixer stuck between two worlds feel impossibly urgent and fresh."–Manuel Betancourt, author of Hello Stranger: Musings on Modern Intimacies.
"Newson's sophomore novel is a cinematic voyage into the decadence and inherent tragedy of old Hollywood. As characters jockey to Trojan Horse a queer narrative within the undertones of a war hero's biopic, we the readers are morosely confronted with how little has changed in the past sixty years. Newson anatomizes lesser known cultural history while simultaneously inventing such beloved, gorgeously flawed and veristic characters, one is stunned to remember its fiction. In thematic homage to his debut, There's Only One Sin in Hollywood mixes readers a salacious cocktail of love, ambition, legacy and activism. This is the story Hollywood hoped would never see the light of day."-Jason Yamas, author of Tweakerworld
"Deliciously witty and packing enough erotic heat to make sensitive souls clutch their pearls, Rasheed Newson's superb second novel brings us Xavier, a rising superstar determined to liberate queer Hollywood from a culture that demands silence and acquiescence. In studio boardrooms and backlots twinkling with VIPs named Poitier and Belafonte, unknowns try to become legends and heroes struggle to be heroic. Newson writes in technicolor – wow, are these pages alive! – and knows where the bodies are buried. Love, fame, war, religion, political freedom, big dreams and big money – There's Only One Sin in Hollywood is a quintessential Hollywood novel and an LA classic for our times."-Laura Warrell, author of Sweet, Soft, Plenty, Rhythm
"Unabashedly erotic, irresistible, and heartbreaking, There's Only One Sin in Hollywood exposes the hidden gay world of the movies-the connections, dealings, and dramas of its Black figures-with panache and authority. Sparkling with real-life and invented Hollywood stars, and threaded with a complicated love of the movies, Rasheed Newson's second novel is an American tale of the first order. It will grip you until the last page."
–Richard Mirabella, Author of Brother & Sister Enter the Forest
"Living up to its provocative title, Rasheed Newson's There's Only One Sin in Hollywood offers a deft and deliciously decadent excavation of Black queer history. Sexy, sly, and with a piquant sense of humor, Newson's prose handily shuttles you between glittering post-war Hollywood backlots and dimly-lit lurid cruising spots in Griffith Park-all while making a period piece about a fixer stuck between two worlds feel impossibly urgent and fresh."–Manuel Betancourt, author of Hello Stranger: Musings on Modern Intimacies.
"Newson's sophomore novel is a cinematic voyage into the decadence and inherent tragedy of old Hollywood. As characters jockey to Trojan Horse a queer narrative within the undertones of a war hero's biopic, we the readers are morosely confronted with how little has changed in the past sixty years. Newson anatomizes lesser known cultural history while simultaneously inventing such beloved, gorgeously flawed and veristic characters, one is stunned to remember its fiction. In thematic homage to his debut, There's Only One Sin in Hollywood mixes readers a salacious cocktail of love, ambition, legacy and activism. This is the story Hollywood hoped would never see the light of day."-Jason Yamas, author of Tweakerworld
"Deliciously witty and packing enough erotic heat to make sensitive souls clutch their pearls, Rasheed Newson's superb second novel brings us Xavier, a rising superstar determined to liberate queer Hollywood from a culture that demands silence and acquiescence. In studio boardrooms and backlots twinkling with VIPs named Poitier and Belafonte, unknowns try to become legends and heroes struggle to be heroic. Newson writes in technicolor – wow, are these pages alive! – and knows where the bodies are buried. Love, fame, war, religion, political freedom, big dreams and big money – There's Only One Sin in Hollywood is a quintessential Hollywood novel and an LA classic for our times."-Laura Warrell, author of Sweet, Soft, Plenty, Rhythm