Deep House by Jeremy Atherton Lin

In Deep House, Jeremy Atherton Lin follows his acclaimed debut Gay Bar with a work that is equally searching yet more intimate.

While in London, on the final leg of a European trip, Lin meets a Brit, and they fall hard for one another. The early days of their mid-90s transatlantic relationship unfolds against the backdrop of the Defense of Marriage Act. 

Passed by the House in July 1996 with an overwhelming vote of 342 to 67, the bill defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman and blocked same-sex couples from accessing federal recognition and rights, including immigration, tax filing, and Social Security.

From the passing of the bill, Deep House shifts through time and space, from Los Angeles to London to San Francisco, offering a fragmented, reflective narrative. Lin’s strength here is scene-building. Each place, and each story in Deep House, is richly reimagined for the reader and feels intentionally placed.

Lin often addresses his lover directly: “Do you remember all this?” he asks, evoking a kind of shared remembering that invites the reader to pause and reflect, too.

The harsh reminder here is that queer people have long been pushed to the edges, forced to live across boundaries and borders—both seen and unseen. And at a time when queer rights are once again under threat, Lin’s story feels both timely and timeless. Praised by Melissa Febos as “a rare and beautiful book,” Deep House is on sale June 3.

Jeremy Atherton Lin is the author of Gay Bar, a New York Times Top Book of 2021 and winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. His essays appear in numerous places including the Paris Review, the Times Literary Supplement and the Yale Review, for which he was a finalist for the National Magazine Award. He has reviewed fiction for the Guardian and the Washington Post. His sound programs have been broadcast on NTS Radio. He is based in Los Angeles and East Sussex, England. 

Deep House: The Gayest Love Story Ever Told is on sale June 3rd, releasing in hardcover, eBook and audiobook formats. Check Bookshop.org or Libro.fm to support an indie near you. 

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