Sex, for a young boy, is a great discovery. But when a young boy is betrayed by love, sex can become a powerful weapon—especially when used against a married man. I’m going home and I’m going to tell my father exactly what you did to me. Set in the Indiana town of the same name, Terre Haute is the story of one very memorable year in the life of Jared McCaverty, who has just discovered sex but has yet to discover what it means. Spoiled by his family’s wealth, Jared is able to live in a world of fantasy—filled with movies, art, and daydreams. But when his thoughts of other boys begin to turn into reality with an older man, Jared comes to realize the implications—the very real perils—of his sexuality.

Terre Haute

Literature & Fiction

Aitken, Will

United States

Random House Publishing Group

Repressed memories of childhood abuse and incest seep into Daniel's consciousness and turn his life upside down until he confronts his father in a traumatic visit home. 10,000 first printing.

A Visit Home/a Novel

Simon&Schuster

What can be learned from tragedy and the art of theater
In 2015 Will Aitken journeyed to Luxembourg for the rehearsals and premiere of Anne Carson’s translation of Sophokles’ 5th-century BCE tragedy Antigone, starring Juliette Binoche and directed by theatrical sensation Ivo van Hove.
In watching the play, he became awestruck with the plight of the young woman at the centre of the action. “Look at what these men are doing to me,” Antigone cries, expressing the predicament of the dispossessed throughout time. Transfixed by the strange and uncanny power of the play, he finds himself haunted by its protagonist, finally resulting in a suicidal breakdown.
With a backstage view of the action, Aitken illuminates the creative process of Carson, Binoche, and Van Hove and offers a rare glimpse into collaborative genius in action. He also investigates the response to the play by Hegel, Virginia Woolf, Judith Butler, and others, who too, were moved by its timeless protest against injustice.

Antigone Undone: Juliette Binoche, Anne Carson, Ivo van Hove, and the Art of Resistance (The Regina Collection, 8)

Dramas & Plays

University of Regina Press

In this darkly hilarious satire by the inimitable Will Aitken, class war erupts aboard a luxury cruise ship. A boatload of white privilege, The Emerald Tranquility is the most luxurious cruise liner afloat, its passengers some of the richest people in the world. Meanwhile the ship's crew, overworked and underpaid, live packed tightly together in airless below-deck cabins. Briony Paget, globetrotting luxury travel writer, emulates the rich -- though homeless and penniless herself -- as she hops from gig to all-expenses-paid gig.&nbsp; The passengers encounter a great number of cataclysms at sea, but no matter the catastrophe, the great ship always sails on. On her own personal voyage, Briony encounters Mrs. Moore, an enigmatic old woman clandestinely fomenting a mutiny on this bountiful ship. With the captain overthrown, roles quickly reverse: the crew become the ship's new leisure class and the aged passengers learn how to mop floors and scrub toilets.&nbsp; Briony, confused and terrified by the resultant chaos, must decide which lot to cast her fate with, in this savage satire of the way we live now.&nbsp;

The Swells

Humor & Satire

House of Anansi Press

A Queer Film Classic on Luchino Visconti's lyrical and controversial 1971 film based on Thomas Mann's novel about a middle-aged man (played by Dirk Bogarde) vacationing in Venice who becomes obsessed with a youth staying at the same hotel as a wave of cholera descends upon the city. The book analyzes its cultural impact and provides a vivid portrait of the director, an ardent Communist and grand provocateur. Will Aitken's novels include Realia and Terre Haute. Arsenal's Queer Film Classics series cover some of the most important and influential films about and by LGBTQ people.

Death in Venice: A Queer Film Classic (Queer Film Classics)

Humor & Entertainment

Movies

Arsenal Pulp Press