an Edgar Award. It was also made into a major motion picture in Japan. His work has also appeared in The Paris Review, The New York Times, Purple, and Fence, among other publications.
Gordon applied the Page 69 Test to new his novel, Behind Sunset, and shared the following:
Behind Sunset is a neo-noir mystery set in LA in the 90s. Elliot Gross, a twenty- something aspiring writer living in a garage in Hollywood, is working as an editor at X- rated magazine Raunchy, when the notorious owner sends him in search of his lost love, a missing model, a journey that takes him through the depths of the porn underground, the equally shady New-Age spirituality business, and into the heart of Hollywood’s dream factory.Visit David Gordon's blog.
This time, page 69 is, perhaps fittingly, misleading. It is, to be honest, not a thrilling page for a thriller. Elliot is just watching TV. He is killing time waiting for his three gorgeous roommates, all wannabe actress/models, to get ready to go to a party in the Hollywood Hills. He is tagging along because a stripper he met at a club told him the woman he seeks is close friends with the birthday boy. As a last minute, zero-cost present, he decides to wrap up the obnoxious satin jacket with a Raunchy Magazine logo that his boss gave him and which he hates. All important story stuff but, like I say, nothing much happening on that page as he watches the news.
However, what he sees on the TV is a freeway police chase tracked by helicopter, a classic LA event. The most famous of course was the OJ Simpson white Bronco chase, but locals know this happens a lot and it is always surreal to see the suspect flee, as if he might escape despite being on what was the forerunner of reality TV. Some even drive to their own homes. Then Elliot sees news footage of a wildfire - images that are sadly only more frequent and terrifying today. As for the birthday party, several disturbing and fateful encounters will occur up in those hills tonight, and even the jacket he is bringing will trigger unforeseeable and violent consequences.
Lastly, the Hollywood Hills themselves, (the title refers to the hills “behind” Sunset Blvd) are central to the book - a maze of streets where the book’s most mysterious characters live, where Elliot gets lost constantly, and which symbolizes the labyrinth of danger and desire into which he has been led.
The Page 69 Test: The Serialist.
The Page 69 Test: Mystery Girl.
The Page 69 Test: White Tiger on Snow Mountain.
Writers Read: David Gordon (August 2019).
The Page 69 Test: The Hard Stuff.
Q&A with David Gordon.
The Page 69 Test: The Wild Life.
--Marshal Zeringue
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