the lens of prior texts and experiences, we must attempt to read The World in the Evening as
a text apart from Isherwood's oeuvre: as a unique narrative exploring the possibility of
forming spaces within society amenable to gay men. Readers' and critics' attempts to
contextualize die novel through dieir experiences of Isherwood's previous works prove
fruidess: for the vast majority of die reading audience (at its publication and today), The …