What do you think?
Rate this book
A Comfortable Corner
Terence Strange and Christopher More had been lovers for many years, but at last Terence could take no more of the mess alcoholism was making of their lives. Where could he find counsel? Surely not in Judith and Gerald, whose once-happy marriage was crumbling, nor in Dominic Perrugio and William More, Christopher's father, whose doomed relationship seemed a portent of Terence's future.
All their lives were bound together, but Terence had to disentangle himself from the web of hatred and find a way free to love.
All their lives were bound together, but Terence had to disentangle himself from the web of hatred and find a way free to love.
- GenresGay Fiction
324 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
1 person is currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
Vincent Virga
20 books32 followersVincent Virga has been called "America's foremost picture editor." He has researched, edited, and designed picture sections for more than 150 books, including Eyes of the Nation: A Visual History of the United States and the full-length photo essay The Eighties: Images of America. He is also the author of A Comfortable Corner. He is working on a third novel, Theatricals.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 10, 2014
This book was terrible, so terrible that I couldn't put it down because every page contained turgid, overwritten prose, smug lifestyle judgement ("Terry found the disco lot sad and pitiable...") self-congratulatory name dropping, and AA jargon. Lots and lots and LOTS of AA jargon, to the point where entire multi-paged conversations went along these lines :
"I'm just so sad about my husband's alcoholism. If only there were some sort of group or program that could help me deal with these feelings."
"But there is, Lucille, a life-changing, life-saving program developed by Bill W."
At times the text actually made me scream out loud, but still I felt compelled by the cheese and read all the way to the (lame, unsatisfying but still not surprising) end. I wouldn't go so far as to recommend this book, but if you're stuck in a room with a copy, flip through it and enjoy a chuckle. Or a serious meditation on the evils of alcohol and what you can do about it. Or something.
After my rapturous discovery of Gaywyck, I was of course eager to get my hands on the one other book written by the author. My wish was not fulfilled until more than two decades later, and boy was it not worth the wait!
I feel slightly bad saying that (though only slightly). A Comfortable Corner is clearly, painfully personal, the story of a man trying to rescue his lover from the depths of alcoholism, and seeking support from his and his lover's friends and family. This is a wrenching topic and would be a really great basis for a book. This, however, is not the book.
"Preachy" doesn't begin to scratch the surface of just how preachy this book is. Mr. Virga clearly placed enormous value in the traditional 12 Step program, and reading this book is like reading an AA pamphlet over and over and over again. Nearly every character in the book is a current or former alcoholic, which leads to more or less constant discussions of the evils of alcohol and the benefits of being a Friend of Bill W. I tested myself one time, opening the book at random and reading until I came to an AA reference and I never had to read more than two pages.
Chapter Five is good. It's the story of the gay guy's gay dad (an alcoholic) and his meeting and romancing of a younger (alcoholic) fellow in 1950's New York. Of course they drink so they come to a tragic end, but it is interesting to read about their forbidden love. And to learn about the origins of AA. Because I know that's why you read this book.
The saddest part is (SPOILER ALERT) that the protagonist, after a book's worth of agonizing over his lover and girding his loins to leave the alcoholic to his fate (even starting up a romance with a sober children's book illustrator) he decides that the best thing to do is dump the illustrator and continue to be a caretaker to the drunk because surely he'll snap out of it any day now. I'm going to have to assume that this is the decision VV made in his own life. I wonder how it worked out?
"I'm just so sad about my husband's alcoholism. If only there were some sort of group or program that could help me deal with these feelings."
"But there is, Lucille, a life-changing, life-saving program developed by Bill W."
At times the text actually made me scream out loud, but still I felt compelled by the cheese and read all the way to the (lame, unsatisfying but still not surprising) end. I wouldn't go so far as to recommend this book, but if you're stuck in a room with a copy, flip through it and enjoy a chuckle. Or a serious meditation on the evils of alcohol and what you can do about it. Or something.
After my rapturous discovery of Gaywyck, I was of course eager to get my hands on the one other book written by the author. My wish was not fulfilled until more than two decades later, and boy was it not worth the wait!
I feel slightly bad saying that (though only slightly). A Comfortable Corner is clearly, painfully personal, the story of a man trying to rescue his lover from the depths of alcoholism, and seeking support from his and his lover's friends and family. This is a wrenching topic and would be a really great basis for a book. This, however, is not the book.
"Preachy" doesn't begin to scratch the surface of just how preachy this book is. Mr. Virga clearly placed enormous value in the traditional 12 Step program, and reading this book is like reading an AA pamphlet over and over and over again. Nearly every character in the book is a current or former alcoholic, which leads to more or less constant discussions of the evils of alcohol and the benefits of being a Friend of Bill W. I tested myself one time, opening the book at random and reading until I came to an AA reference and I never had to read more than two pages.
Chapter Five is good. It's the story of the gay guy's gay dad (an alcoholic) and his meeting and romancing of a younger (alcoholic) fellow in 1950's New York. Of course they drink so they come to a tragic end, but it is interesting to read about their forbidden love. And to learn about the origins of AA. Because I know that's why you read this book.
The saddest part is (SPOILER ALERT) that the protagonist, after a book's worth of agonizing over his lover and girding his loins to leave the alcoholic to his fate (even starting up a romance with a sober children's book illustrator) he decides that the best thing to do is dump the illustrator and continue to be a caretaker to the drunk because surely he'll snap out of it any day now. I'm going to have to assume that this is the decision VV made in his own life. I wonder how it worked out?
April 11, 2025
It is rare - maybe impossible - that any life is as easy-breezy as it may seem to observers. Everyone has challenges - small and large - to navigate, and often grief and outright trauma that incorporates into one's psyche as their human journey continues. As I child, I used to hear a country hymn that said "troubles can break you or make you a man".
The dry, sardonic edge with which the opening scenes in "A Comfortable Corner" are narrated hint broadly that 'troubles' have been or are still at work. The reader senses that either pieces are being picked up, or are getting ready to be blown up. We soon learn the protagonists in the story are actually all the humans depicted - authors, publishers and 'creatives' navigating varying degrees of success and public adoration. Alcohol abuse is the antagonist, wreaking the 'troubles' indiscriminately and mercilessly to everyone in orbit of the alcoholics.
Throughout, we see harrowing examples of how, when one person's live goes off the rails, even the ones who are still 'on track' are profoundly affected. Everything - emotions, reactions, decisions, motives, boundaries, guardrails - comes into sharp focus and need to be minutely examined. All the time. Nothing is in cruise control anymore. Blowing up and picking up are the only cycle - no rinse, just repeat.
Having personally experienced the devastation of loved ones abusing substances, I was wary about reading this book. (As I was cautioned: "it goes there".) And while the struggles depicted were excruciating, the narration brought to life the tenets of substance abuse recovery: clarity, strength and courage to live in the moment. Never preachy, passages showed how, with persistence, patience and humility (the most difficult, imho), it's possible to move onwards. Without irony, we're shown how those tenets and qualities also apply to relationships in general.
This novel, with its towering love stories and wrenching struggles, is inspirational for people impacted by or struggling with substance abuse - or even daily life. The lush prose and the empathetic messaging are beautifully and realistically interwoven.
Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. I will read it again, with highlighter in hand.
The dry, sardonic edge with which the opening scenes in "A Comfortable Corner" are narrated hint broadly that 'troubles' have been or are still at work. The reader senses that either pieces are being picked up, or are getting ready to be blown up. We soon learn the protagonists in the story are actually all the humans depicted - authors, publishers and 'creatives' navigating varying degrees of success and public adoration. Alcohol abuse is the antagonist, wreaking the 'troubles' indiscriminately and mercilessly to everyone in orbit of the alcoholics.
Throughout, we see harrowing examples of how, when one person's live goes off the rails, even the ones who are still 'on track' are profoundly affected. Everything - emotions, reactions, decisions, motives, boundaries, guardrails - comes into sharp focus and need to be minutely examined. All the time. Nothing is in cruise control anymore. Blowing up and picking up are the only cycle - no rinse, just repeat.
Having personally experienced the devastation of loved ones abusing substances, I was wary about reading this book. (As I was cautioned: "it goes there".) And while the struggles depicted were excruciating, the narration brought to life the tenets of substance abuse recovery: clarity, strength and courage to live in the moment. Never preachy, passages showed how, with persistence, patience and humility (the most difficult, imho), it's possible to move onwards. Without irony, we're shown how those tenets and qualities also apply to relationships in general.
This novel, with its towering love stories and wrenching struggles, is inspirational for people impacted by or struggling with substance abuse - or even daily life. The lush prose and the empathetic messaging are beautifully and realistically interwoven.
Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. I will read it again, with highlighter in hand.
April 30, 2022
I was really looking forward to reading this book after reading his first book "Gaywyck". This book was such a disappointment. Talking about alcoholism is fine, but this book went overboard with the word. Almost every single page had that word on it, then with more than one character having alcoholism, it was boring. I kept thinking it would get better, but it did not. Nothing like "Gaywyck" at all. A boring read for sure.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews