“Shame informs much of the work of our latter-day gay novelists, offered as an antidote to our overriding gay culture that recognizes ‘pride’ as the core (and perhaps only) important expression of gayness today. The literary projects offered by [Hanya] Yanagihara and [Garth] Greenwell are cultural counterpoints to gay pride, attempts to show how shame – just as much as pride, if not more – still meaningfully forms part of the terrain of gay life, and must be acknowledged as such.”