Van Sant has long wanted to make a feature film of ‘City of Night’ and pressed copies of the book into the hands of Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix on the set of ‘My Private Idaho’. ‘City of Night’ paved the way for films like the Oscar-garlanded ‘Midnight Cowboy’ starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman, Paul Morrissey’s ‘Flesh’, and Gus Van Sant’s ‘Drugstore Cowboy’. Leee Black Childers, rock and punk scene photographer and Warhol's assistant at The Factory, has said, ‘It was from the denizens of Times Square, Pershing Square, Piccadilly Circus, and the Tenderloin that I formulated my philosophy as so perfectly outlined by John Rechy in ‘City Of Night’'. Unfortunately, Rechy was repelled by Malanga's overweening ego. Malanga asked Rechy to collaborate on a book on Warhol. Rechy inspired Andy Warhol and his right-hand-man Gerard Malanga. David Hockney first visited Los Angeles in search of the seedy nightlife in Rechy’s novel. Rechy’s influence extends beyond pop music. Sleazy city.’ David Bowie, the godfather of glam, has cited ‘City of Night’ as one of his favourite novels. It’s easy to see the influence Rechy had on the snyth-pop duo in the lyrics ‘Feeling sleazy. Soft Cell acknowledged their debt to Rechy when they released ‘Numbers’ whose title was taken from a novel of the same name by Rechy. Shining a light on the previously unseen world of hustlers, drag queens and clients, Rechy was inviting readers to take a walk on the wild side. The Velvet Underground (named after a paperback by journalist Michael Leigh that reported on the sexual underground in the USA) and Marc Almond were drawn to ‘City of Night’ because it is a book about the seedier side of life. This may explain why musicians like Tom Waits have found inspiration in his books. Musical influences, such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and Fats Domino shaped Rechy’s writing style. Woman (‘Are you a lucky little lady in the City of Light/ Or just another lost angel.City of Night City of Night, City of Night, City of Night, woo, c'mon’). The novel was certainly in the forefront of Jim Morrison’s mind when he came to write the lyrics of L.A. Rechy might not have been on publishers’ radar, but ‘City of Night’ has seeped into popular culture. New readers to Rechy may already be familiar with ‘City of Night’. Over twenty years have passed since ‘City of Night’ was last published in the UK. The landmark first novel about male prostitution by John Rechy has remained continuously in print in America for almost half a century, but the gay Mexican-American author has been largely neglected by British publishers. ‘City of Night’, an instant bestseller when it was first published in 1963, has just been brought back into print by the independent publisher Souvenir Press.

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