What happens when the drive to succeed professionally collides with ambitions of the heart? In The Lurking Place , James Eric Lowell, a young Black poet, strives to advance his career and extend his whirlwind romance with his white lover, Sophia. Set in New York City and Mexico during 1968―a time of political upheaval and social change―this cinematic page-turner captivates the reader with its richly drawn settings and unforgettable characters. Will James finish his manuscript and have his book published? Will Sophia stay with James or allow her family to reign in her passions? "...inspired...a rich meditation...."-- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY "Were I to name The Lurking Place haunting the corners of this irresistible novel, I'd only get a chuckle from our guide, James Lowell, poet seer of New York in the Summer of Love, and I don't want to do that. James would be right. He's a smart sexy man and his story's as bullish, heart-stopping, and glad as the women who circle around his circling. It's also sad and hilarious. Don't miss it for the world." --ABBY FRUCHT, author of Licorice: A Nove l "Vivid, canny, propulsive, and cool, The Lurking Place, Clarence Major's endlessly engaging new novel, probes the tensions of two interlocking moments--a young artist testing his creative powers and a young generation declaring its independence. From St. Marks Place to Puerto Vallarta, this novel's roving Bohemia--with its big cast of fascinating travelers--sharpens our vision of the late 1960s as a time when innocence dallied with the sinister." --JOHN BECKMAN, author of The Winter Zoo "...depicts, with bold cinematic precision the turmoil of the late sixties...subtle...taunt, dialogue-driven scenes..."-- LUCINDA ROY, author of The Freedom Race "What a fun ride/read! A real view into the late 1960's of downtown NYC to Mexico--the struggle of 'becoming a poet' (and being in love)--with all the details of time & place. Reads like a lost artifact, long missed, sorely needed."-- TAMA JANOWITZ "The Lurking Place is a tender and compelling portrait of the poet as a young man, Clarence Major depicts the convergence of art and love with authority and great charm."-- HILMA WOLITZER, author of An Available Man:A Novel "The Lurking Place is a riveting and remarkable portrait of a young man negotiating the conflicts between poetic ambition, untested talent, maybe-love and routine racism. This tale unfolds through New York and Mexico, in a superb evocation of the late sixties, a time when anything could happen and usually did. A wonderful book."-- JOAN SILBER, author of Improvement and winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award "For the journey of an emerging poet through the sexual, racial, and literary politics of the late 1960s, Clarence Major is the ideal guide in his engaging new novel, The Lurking Place. Traveling  between bohemian New York and expatriate Mexico, Major's appealing central character James Lowell maintains calm and compassion as he astutely observes the characters and lovers who move around him, while he navigates doubt and confidence in his creative work. A lively portrait of the artist as a young poet, and as a black American finding his voice and his way in a time of turmoil, experiment, and change."-- SYLVIA BROWNRIGG, author of Pages for You and the Delivery Room   "Major writer with great tenderness...[he] keeps his prose on a tight leash...the language is crisp and lucid...[a] clear-eyed perspective..."— Theo Zenou, Times Literary Suppleme t "Plain spoken and gentle...I felt right at home with the sensibilities and customs...organic and appealing..."— Susan Key Anderson, New Pages.com   "The Lurking Place might well be the best of Major's very distinguished body of fiction. Generous, humane, and written with a poet's touch, it is a work of rare beauty. He is an extraordinary artist." -- Steve Yarbrough, author of The Unmade World: A Novel "A wonderful novel...[by] an important American writer...a rich tribute..." — Philip Lee Williams "A beautiful, sparely written novel...[a] relevant, masterfully told story..."— Ona Russell   "Meditative and ethical...leavened with subtle comedy...wise detachment and forbearance."— Alfred Corn, author of  Miranda's Book   "I loved this story of youth, of art, of romance, and the winding path one young writer takes through it all.  A Lurking Place,  deceptively quiet and matter of fact in the telling, captures an era of a single poet's life, spilling open the conflicts, and the roles played by ambition and by the longing for connection. Unlike any novel I have read, this is a wonderful, moving book."— Robin Black, author of Life Drawing   "Clarence Major is a masterful and insightful writer.  The Lurking Place  is the story of James Eric Lowell, a young Black poet who is both witness to and participant in the urgent and turbulent '60s. Lowell struggles to understand and embrace his own complex nature: creative, romantic, solitary, insecure