First paperback edition. Brite has a rich and dedicated readership among readers of gay, cooking, horror, and mystery fiction. Brite and her husband, a chef, live in New Orleans. Since Hurricane Katrina she has moved away from fiction. This book features a new author's afterword on these two novels and their writing. "The Value of X" was the first of Brite's novels featuring two chefs, Rickey and G-man, who grow up together, fall in love, and find ways to work together. It was published in a limited hardcover edition by Subterranean Press in 2003 and is out of print. D*U*C*K is a short novel that was published post-Katrina in a limited hardcover edition by Subterranean Press and is out of print. The series has been published by Three Rivers (a Random House imprint) and all have sold 5-10,000 and have a loyal following.