The House of Impossible Beauties

“Exceptional…The writing is erotically luscious, lyrically intense, forthrightly in your face, and pitch-perfect in the dialog, and the suspense comes from wondering what’s going to happen to these people…A grittily gorgeous work for readers who don’t go for cozies.” - Library Journal (starred review)“A marvelously serious, deep, artful, humane read. I’m really knocked out by this…[Cassara] managed to put actual, living, breathing human beings on the page….There’s so much downright gorgeous prose here, so many beautifully and precisely observed images, subjects, emotions. Beautiful because true.” - Paul Harding, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Tinkers“In The House of Impossible Beauties, Joseph Cassara’s characters live between the twin poles of the dark underworld of the Christopher Street piers and the glittering Harlem Ball Scene. They are so young, so full of longing to love and be loved as their true selves; at first the House of Xtravaganza offers a refuge. But nowhere is safe for long. In a voice both intimate and dazzling, Cassara allows his readers to experience these tumultuous lives. The result is a novel full of desire and suspense and heartbreak.” - Margot Livesey, author of Mercury“Cassara has done a superb job of reimagining a world that will be foreign and even exotic to many readers, while creating fully developed characters to populate it. The tone is singularly apposite….A compassionate story, which is altogether moving and unforgettable.” - Booklist (starred review)“Fierce, tender, and heartbreaking.” - Kirkus Reviews“Vividly imagined… . Riveted by their stories, you are so struck by the Xtravaganza’s strength and determination, by their vibrant spirits and humor, by their creativity, by their sensitivity to beauty and their capacity to give and receive love.” - New York Times Book Review“Cassara immerses us in a New York that we may think we know from countless other novels and films, but which is, in fact, significantly more complex (and more urgently relevant to us today) than previously imagined.” - The Millions“Simultaneously tender and tragic, Cassara chronicles the House’s inception, its role in cultivating family for outcasts in the community, and spotlights the wholly original personalities that brought it to life.” - Town & Country“Infused with glitz as well as heart, the story explores life as racial and sexual minorities–the pains and the triumphs, the grit and the thrills–in a way that feels personal, even for those who never walked the ballroom scene.” - Harper’s Bazaar“This debut novel will absolutely blow you away.” - Bustle“Vivid and engaging… . The novel feels like an anthropological plunge into another era, enhanced by rhythmic, urban prose littered with slang and Spanglish.” - The Economist“A vivacious debut.” - O, the Oprah Magazine” [An] exceptional debut…The book’s social truth is unsettling, its dialog deft, its characterization affecting, and its language both gritty and luscious.” - Library Journal“You might crack open The House of Impossible Beauties because why wouldn’t you want to know (more) about the underground queer ball scene of 1980’s Harlem or the ins and outs of the piers at the end of Christopher Street? Underneath the grime and glitter, Beauties is quietly about necessity and defiance, about love and death, about characters who ache to be alive and seen in a world that mirrors back nothing but rejection and violence.” - Nami Mun, author of Miles From Nowhere“Underneath the grime and glitter, The House of Impossible Beauties is quietly about necessity and defiance, about love and death, about characters who ache to be alive and seen in a world that mirrors back nothing but rejection and violence.” - Nami Mun, author of Miles From Nowhere“A novel so beautiful it’s hard to believe it’s a debut… As you meet each narrator, the book reveals the raw, heartbreaking stories behind the glamor we associate with the ballroom scene.” - Mashable“Passionate…empathetic and vibrant.” - Entertainment Weekly“It’s impossible to not feel utterly transported, to feel the hum of the music in your cells, to vibrate with the energy of the time and place, with all its attendant exhilarating highs and devastating lows.” - Nylon Magazine“Cassara’s propulsive and profound first novel, finding one’s home in the world–particularly in a subculture plagued by fear and intolerance from society–comes with tragedy as well as extraordinary personal freedom.” - Esquire“A heartbreaking novel that burns brightly.” - Buzzfeed“Joy and loss clutch hands in The House of Impossible Beauties. It is a tragic book, a lyrical book, a defiant book, and ultimately a loving book. The heroines and heroes hold fast to love and Cassara clearly has deep love for every character who struts across these pages.” - Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of Harmless Like You “This is a definitive LGBTQ family story, of the sweep and intimacy that’s typical in family sagas while also steeped in the trauma and sass specific to its milieu.” - Entertainment Weekly

Joseph Cassara was born and raised in New Jersey. He holds degrees from Columbia University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and has been a writing fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts. This is his first novel.