Book excerpt: The legendary science fiction writer’s controversial, groundbreaking novel—one gay man’s raw and wild ride through the 1960s and ’70s. From an adolescent being bullied to the muddy wetlands of Vietnam to an Arizona desert commune, a man known only as Chase traces his quest for identity, meaning, and love in prose both beautiful and brutal. Thirteen fourteen fifteen o’clockis a coming-of-age and then coming-to-terms novel of a life lived looking for answers from gurus and whores, dopers and soldiers, men and women. Returning from Vietnam missing a leg and saddled with fear, rage, and grief, Chase takes to his Harley never able to outrun the trauma that resurfaces every time he is threatened because of his sexuality. Yet, though scarred and battered—inside and out—he constantly seeks those fleeting moments of connection with another soul, an awareness of a universe where he is not alone in his hurt and hunger. A searingly powerful story of survival, thirteen fourteen fifteen o’clock is what happens when life stares you down, daring you to blink first, and you meet its gaze—with eyes wide open. Praise for The Man Who Folded Himself “Most impressive.” —The Times Literary Supplement “Wildly imaginative and mindbending.” —Publishers Weekly