Midnight at the Cinema Palace: A Book Review
I was one of the judges for the 2023 Lambda Literary J. Michael Samuel Prize which Christopher Tradowsky won for his novel in progress, “ Midnight at the Cinema Palace ,” so I was beyond excited when his publicist offered to send me a copy of the now-completed book. I was anxious to see whether the novel lived up to its early promise. Cinema is one of those books—all too rare in my humble opinion—in which the journey—not the destination —is the point. Within its pages, there is no mystery to solve, no star-crossed lovers to root for, no battles to be won or lost. Instead, reading this novel is like taking a meandering train trip across a landscape that is at once known and unknown but undeniably beautiful, in one of those plush 1930s private coaches pulled by a stately gleaming steam engine: you feel relaxed, slightly outside of time. This novel is many things: a love letter to San Francisco and old movies, particularly film noir, and the magnificent palaces they were once shown i...