One of Time Out New York's Best Books of the Summer
"If you’re a fan of conflicted characters who struggle with identity and desire, then this novel is for you. The story begins with a breakup and escalates with the discovery of a peep show that, from the outside, appears to be just a cruising hot spot but is eventually revealed as an embodiment of desire and self-image.” —Emy Rodriguez, Time Out New York
One of Out Traveler's Recommended Beach Reads
“A sexy, amusing, and thoroughly engrossing slice of gay fiction that is impressively accomplished for a debut. It's also a highly auspicious beginning for a Texas writer with certain promise.” —The Bay Area Reporter
"In his debut novel Arcade, Smith explores the underground world of an adult video store where gay men cruise for casual sex and enjoy XXX peepshows. Here Smith examines the power cruising has in making us rethink our identities and to help us reconcile with our sometimes troubled pasts." —Out Magazine
"The novel is funny and chilling by turns, and because of its subject matter, necessarily dark." —Michael Schaub, The Los Angeles Times
"A book that is both incredibly American and incredibly gay... The sex in the novel is nothing short of splendiferous— deserving of the word in that it is varied, fascinatingly intimate at times and completely detached at others." —Ilana Masad, Electric Literature
"Smith has created a narrative that entrances its readers, constantly giving us excitement and depicting with audacity the rawness of sexuality... a daring and compelling debut that sheds light on a rather unusual lifestyle. A sexy and poignant novel." —Kirkus Reviews
"Drew Nellins Smith guides us through this world of secret transactions and unwritten rules with skill and precision... With pitch-perfect tone and a voice that is simultaneously dark, erotic, and wry, Drew Nellins Smith offers us a protagonist who is neither hopeless nor hopeful, but somebody trying to forge lasting connections in a world that is all about moving away from — rather than moving toward — the things we value and cherish." —Alex Espinoza, Los Angeles Review of Books
"A narrator so real and naked, you won’t be able to stop reading…A novel about sexuality, paranoia, loneliness, and finding who you really are. It’s a bildungsroman for those in their late 20s who haven’t quite found themselves yet…an essential read.” —Max Booth III, Lit Reactor
"It’s almost impossible to write directly and well about sex. It’s almost impossible to be simultaneously deadly serious and extremely funny. It’s almost impossible to be extraordinarily precise while giving off the effect and affect of slacker casual. In Arcade, Drew Nellins Smith manages to do all these things. A minor miracle." —David Shields, author of Reality Hunger: A Manifesto
"Sharp and funny...Smith gives us a book-long vivid voyeuristic thrill.” —Karen Schechner, Lambda Literary
“It’s difficult to imagine a book as vivid, sexually frank, unflinching, and poignant as Arcade.” —Matthew Patin, Kirkus Reviews
“What Smith accomplishes with his debut novel is what masters of literature spend their entire lives doing.” —Randall S. Frederick, Sexuality and the City
"A thoughtful and beautifully written meditation on the bleach scented and neon lit world of anonymous sex in an adult video store. Drew leads us behind closed doors with a firm but gentle grip.” —Paul Kwiatkowski, author of And Every Day was Overcast
"A dark valentine to American men, mailed from a booth in a gay video store. Think Holden Caulfield, trapped in The Last Picture Show. Sardonic, sad, and laugh-out-loud funny." —Andrew Holleran
“Smith has one of the most honest and original voices of any of our young novelists. He's willing to tear his guts out for us—like the greats do—and remind us that, terrified and confused though we are, we're not alone. He's also hilariously funny and a beautiful stylist. Read this book! You will love it—and its author.” —Clancy Martin, author of Bad Sex
“This is exactly the kind of anxious, obsessed literary filth that I've always wanted without knowing it. I loved reading Arcade.” —Karl Taro Greenfeld, author of The Subprimes
“Obsessive, dark, and tender, Arcade investigates longing and modern loneliness with care, invention, and a complete lack of fear.” —Michelle Orange, author of This Is Running for Your Life
"I entered Arcade expecting to be shocked and was—by the beauty and humor with which Drew Nellins Smith captures a place that most often remains hidden. Peel off the metaphoric brown paper wrapper of Arcade and allow yourself to be titillated by his gorgeous prose." —Lori Ostlund, author of After the Parade
“Intent, fearless, and funny, Arcade captures a prism of human sexuality, its bliss and its ugliness and its ridiculousness—all at once.” —Michelle Wildgen author of Bread and Butter
“Arcade is a novel that reads with the authenticity and honesty of a memoir. Drew Smith has written a compelling tell-all about a man coming to terms with his sexuality in an unlikely place, a peepshow arcade. I couldn’t stop reading it. It's a remarkable debut novel.” —Michael Kimball, author of Big Ray, Us and Dear Everybody
“A keenly-observed meditation on the ins and outs of an adult video store, Arcade is a heartfelt love letter to a very unlikely place.” —Amy Fusselman, author of The Pharmacist’s Mate
“Though some may shy away or be offended by the frankness in which Sam recounts his time at the arcade, it is this very honesty that kept luring me to turn the page. Smith does not hold back in this novel: he patiently and carefully walks us down the lobby, through the aisles, and into the booths… novels like Smith’s are important to read.” —Gabby Almendarez, Angel City Review
2016-06-14
A Texas-based debut novel about a man controlled by his sexuality.When Sam finally realizes that his sexual orientation might be different from what society expects of him, he resorts to the internet to find satisfaction. But the Missed Connections vertical on Craigslist is not enough for him. To his surprise, he happens upon a roadside arcade that guarantees anonymity to its customers, that allows for a quick release, and that carries the potential for a connection. For all intents and purposes a XXX video store, the arcade is where the confused Sam soon spends most of his days and nights. There, he meets a cast of men, ranging from a "tweaker" to "a big bull of man," and engages in a variety of activities—most of which will elicit chills and a raised eyebrow. "I could have something like an encounter [at the arcade], a vicarious experience completely free of any fears of infection or the face-to-face intimacy I didn't know how to process," Sam says. The novel oscillates between telling Sam's story outside of the arcade and framing it only in terms of his homosexuality ("I had seen porn magazines before…I remember shaking all over and coming in my pants….I kept shaking after that, searching my room for a hiding spot where no one would look….That was the moment when I knew…I might really be the kind of person you weren't supposed to be"). Smith has created a narrative that entrances its readers, constantly giving us excitement and depicting with audacity the rawness of sexuality. However, the text rarely explores the complexity of coming out in a contemporary environment, reverting to hypersexualized stereotypes of gay men. Smith offers few glimpses into Sam's life outside the arcade, with brief appearances by the genuine love interests and connections Sam has made, but quickly returns to the arcade—as if sex was the only thing on his mind or the only thing he was capable of. Nevertheless, Smith has crafted a daring and compelling debut that sheds light on a rather unusual lifestyle.A sexy and poignant novel that could have done well with a more original exploration of gay mores.
