The Shining City tells the story of two boys growing up in postwar affluence in the suburbs. Ashley is the son of Fag and Roddie and lives in a suburb where each house looks like a motel. Christopher, his cousin, inhabits a high wealthy slope. These are the swinging sixties, the seventies, the years of flower power, platform shoes and Vietnam. Two young men, shining in an affluent white light, emerge from a chrysalis. Are they looking for something - or somebody? The Shining City is the second in the saga begun with the much-acclaimed Oracles and Miracles. The saga, which also includes Mum and Bangs, portrays five generations of a family and the story of an entire provincial society. Lauded by some critics, by others this book in the saga has been trashed fiercely. W J McEldowney: 'Inverting life in the sordid city ... the most unpleasant book that I have read for a very long time.' Robert Dessaix: 'one of the most marvellous pieces of gay writing.'