Curzon in Love

In this confessional and repetitive novel, Curzon ( The World Can Break Your Heart ) tells the story of ``Daniel Curzon, a writer who decided in his fortieth year to write about the three men he had called `lover,' wanting to write honestly about the emotions he had felt.'' We first meet Curzon in 1975 at the height of the Gay Liberation Movement in San Francisco, where he describes with ``grubby realism'' his relationship with an ``emotionally sadistic'' sexual partner called Jer. We next encounter Curzon at a French lover's chateau built during Edwardian times, where he entertains readers using a comedy-of-manners style. Finally, we find him on a primitive island, where, borrowing the language of the Arabian nights, he recounts his having fallen in love with ``Ja,'' the ``flower of an ancient race.'' The author's sincere efforts to experiment with language often result in an affected style that is marred further by obvious plays on words. While his observations about the problems faced by writers and gays are engaging and funny, Curzon often indulges in simplistic ``we'' versus ``they'' dichotomies, and his attempts at profundity can sound flat, even pathetic. (Nov.)