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Jay Carr is a writer, director and social activist. As a gay writer he is interested in issues of sexuality, prostitution, the body and performativity of gender. His research into popular culture has formed the basis of his writing. He is a storyteller that travels the world in search of the next inspirational tale. He lives in New York.
Reviewed by Marta Tandori for Readers' Favorite
That Place by Jay Carr is a poignant and, at times, somewhat shocking account of one man’s spiral into hell that gives credence to the old adage of “your past will come back to haunt you.” Barry Cunningham’s quiet academic world as a professor at the Institute for Meditation and Peace Studies in New Jersey is turned upside down when he finds out that he has won the Peace Prize for his ground breaking research on dignity. Nothing prepares Barry for the media furor that surrounds the news of his win – nor what is about to happen as his past is about to be ripped open by a news crew halfway around the world. News journalist Tod Hanson knows that a peace prize winner with a double life that included countless trips to the gay sois of Bangkok with bars, massage shops and ‘pretty boy’ flesh for sale would be big news. And so it is. The fact that Barry’s so-called indiscretions happened more than 20 years ago doesn’t seem to matter to anyone, least of all Barry’s life partner, who packs up and leaves him, solidifying Barry’s downward spiral into hell.
That Place alternates between the present and the past, and attacks the book from two points of view; that of Barry in the present and Barry in the past, as well as from the point of view of the news journalist, Tod Hanson. Certainly, the descriptions of the seedier elements of the Bangkok flesh trade, as well as the cavalier and businesslike expediency of the sex transactions, will leave some readers a little squeamish, to say the least, but it’s impossible to ignore the honesty behind the author’s words. The differences between the two main protagonists, Barry and Tod, also make for an interesting dichotomy. While Tod is undeniably the instigator to Barry’s downfall, there is no malice intended. He is merely doing his job, but as he begins to uncover more about Barry’s past, he also learns more about himself in the process.
There is much about That Place that will leave the reader speechless and shocked, but the author’s intention isn’t as much about shocking his readers as it is about chronicling the deconstruction of one man’s life and this he does most effectively. If there’s anything to be gleaned about That Place, it would be that we all have one; that place, that incident, that special secret in our past which we may not necessarily want disclosed to anyone else. But no matter how careful we are, how closely we guard our secret, there’s always a risk that someone will find out.
