Midnight Cowboy

Midnight Cowboy is a 1965 novel by James Leo Herlihy that chronicles the naïve Texan Joe Buck's odyssey from Texas to New York City, where he plans on realizing his dream of becoming a male prostitute servicing rich women. Plot The book opens with would-be gigolo Joe Buck leaving Houston to seek his fortune back east, chasing his dream of becoming a hustler for sex-starved rich ladies in New York City. Dim-witted, naïve, but strapping and handsome, Joe has spent the past two years cultivating a cowboy persona and saving up his dishwashing wages for a brand new cowboy wardrobe. The book recounts the events of his life that lead up to this point. Born out of wedlock, Joe is abandoned by his mother at the age of 7. He is raised in Albuquerque by his grandmother, Sally Buck, a flirty blonde hairdresser who takes care of his needs but emotionally neglects him in favor of an endless string of boyfriends. One of those boyfriends, the cowboy Woodsy Niles, is the closest thing Joe has to a father figure, but he too exits Joe's life forever once his relationship with Sally ends. Joe grows up profoundly isolated and lonely, desperately wanting but clueless on how to form connections with other people. When Joe is 17, he loses his virginity to Anastasia Pratt, a promiscuous schoolgirl who regularly took on six boys at a time in a movie theater storeroom, each boy patiently waiting in line for his turn. Joe is the first boy she enjoys having sex with, leading to a secret relationship that is squelched when one of the other boys alerts Annie's father to her sexual activities out of jealousy. Annie is swiftly institutionalized, and the unsavory rumors surrounding Joe's involvement only serve to depress and alienate him.