<DIV><p>This earnest, violent, yet utterly transfixing gay love story is set in the nineteenth-century American Midwest. Douglas Fortescue is a successful poet who flees England for America following a scandal; Joshua Jenkins is a feral young outlaw who was taught how to shoot a man at age six. The two men meet when Joshua robs Douglas&rsquo; carriage and takes him hostage; soon, a remarkable secret is revealed, and these two very different men grow closer, even as Douglas&rsquo; brother tries to &ldquo;save&rdquo; him from his uncivilized surroundings.</p><p>First published in Germany, <I>Missouri</I> is available in English for the first time.</p></DIV>