The Troubleseeker

by Alan Lessik

The Troubleseeker tells the contemporary odyssey of Antinio, a native-born Cuban who confronts his gay identity in post-revolution Cuba and as a refugee in America. Narrated by the ancient Roman Emperor and demigod Hadrian, The Troubleseeker weaves Cuban Santería traditions with classical Greek mythology to depict Antinio’s quest to achieve both freedom and love.

Genres: Fiction, LGBT

235 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 22, 2016

About the author

Alan Lessik is a member of the Berlin Queer Writers Circle, Zen practitioner, amateur figure skater and LGBT activist. His debut novel The Troubleseeker was short-listed for the Publishing Triangle’s 2017 Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBTQ Fiction. His non-fiction works and essays have been published by Lambda Literary (The Importance of Novels in Preserving Queer History), the Bay Area Reporter (Sex in the Time of Covid-19), Advocate (Marching to Pretoria), and, San Francisco Bay Guardian. Recently, he was a guest on Andrew. G. Marshall’s Podcast, The Meaningful Life, and previously had radio essays on KQED Radio and performed as a storyteller at the Moth. For three years, he moderated or participated in panels on queer fiction at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Conferences and served on the Board of the AWP LGBTQ Writers Caucus. He received Jukai from in 2013 from Kikū Hōetsu Christina Lenherr at the San Francisco Zen Center and was an active member of the Center´s Queer Dharma team. He was a teacher at the SF LGBTQ Sangha and has written on Zen topics at his blog.

Reviews

[Drake Bogart · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf
CW:SA
This book immediately glorifies SA and having sex with underage boys as just a normal gay thing by having the adult narrator describe the main character's childhood and teenage body in sexual ways, specifying that he found him extremely attractive. There is then a romance between the main character and a German soldier, who is an adult as well, that is described in an extremely romanticized way. This is such a harmful troupe. The author then describes a graphic rape, enforcing another harmful troupe of queer characters experiencing trauma, including the graphic details of that trauma, for being queer in almost every narrative about us. I assume the author is queer but that does not justify writing about a child in this way. These things happen but they are not normal and they are not ok and they are certainly not romantic.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each of us is on our own journey--our own odyssey--filled with adventure, sirens' calls, and tragedy. I wish I had a bard like Roman Emperor Hadrian--or Alan Lessik--to tell my tale.

[Dave X · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to believe that this is Alan Lessik's first book. He intertwines unexpected elements--including all-too-human, quibbling Santeria gods, figures from Greek mythology, and a Roman emperor/demigod narrator--with scenes of post-revolutionary Cuban life, the AIDS crisis, mental illness, sex, and aging as a gay man, all those things that make up the life of his main character, Antinio. The story ambitiously traces a 50-year arc in this man's life, from his youth to death, and yet the time seems to fly by, propelled by one life-changing event after another. At turns funny, thoughtful, and deeply poignant--the ending is simply stunning--this is a novel many readers will connect with.

[Alan Parr]

One of the tests to whether a book is a good one is whether the book is worth reading a second time. I’ve just read Alan Lessik’s first novel The Troubleseeker again. This time I understood how this tale could be both of a gay man growing up in 1960s Cuba ruled by Fidel Castro and be a tale told by the Roman Emperor Hadrian. Even knowing how the story would end did not diminish the pleasure I had from the story, this time I was able to savour the twists and turns the tale as it unfolded with a foresight the characters did not have.
The story takes the reader on journey from Cuba to San Francisco via East Germany, Minnesota and San Diego. This alone is griping and fascinating, but on top of that we are given a compasionate descriptions of the AIDS pandemic and living with mental health issues.
The book is a real page-turner and I heartily recommend it to all readers.