In the City of Shy Hunters: A Novel - Tapa dura

In the City of Shy Hunters opens in 1983, when William Parker moves from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to Manhattan, desperate to escape the provincialism of the small Western towns in which he has spent his entire life. Shy, afflicted with a stutter, and struggling with his sexuality, Will has been afraid of New York his entire life. In moving there, he learns the value of embracing one's fears, finding himself surrounded for the first time by people who understand and celebrate his quirks and flaws. Along the way, he becomes wrapped up in one of the most unforgettable romances in literature, a love affair with a volatile, six-foot-five African-American drag queen and performance artist named Rose.
But even as he is falling in love with Rose and growing into himself, Will must watch as his friends are taken from him as AIDS grows from a rumor into a full-scale epidemic. Meanwhile, tension is also mounting between the police and the squatters in his local park - until a vicious riot breaks out, providing Will with the opportunity for a heroic, transcendent act that will repay the city for all it has taught him and leave readers shaken, fulfilled, and changed.