The Value of X

Here is the novel that marks a major turning point in the work of Poppy Z. Brite. Fans of Brite's earlier work will find that she has matured, streamlined, and moved closer to the heart of common experience without abandoning her own extremely personal perspective.

Gary and Rickey grew up in the Lower Ninth Ward, products of New Orleans as surely as Community Coffee or the Superdome. Friends since childhood, they become lovers at age 16 and must deal with the reality of being gay in a hardscrabble neighborhood, a traditional Catholic family, and the restaurant kitchens where they've begun to work.

The Value of X is a novel about growing up, about outgrowing the templates of family and society, about the pirate-crew culture that goes on behind the scenes of every restaurant. Perhaps most of all, it is a novel that portrays New Orleans in a richer, truer light than Brite has ever done before.