Bildungsroman of a Fan: Noel Alumit s Letters to Montgomery Clift

In this essay, I perform a detailed reading of Noel Alumit s 2002 novel, Letters to Montgomery Clift, and suggest that it qualifies as part of an emerging genre of fan literature, that is, literary fiction that explores the way fans, in this case, a particular media fan, experience the world. My particular focus is on the major romance plots of the novel -- the first, a fannish romance, which the protagonist establishes with the dead movie star Montgomery Clift, and the second, a more conventional gay romance that the protagonist establishes by the end of the novel with his first serious boyfriend, Logan. Because the protagonist must say goodbye to Montgomery Clift before his relationship with Logan can serve as a conclusive ending to the narrative, I argue that the novel misses an opportunity to present fandom as a way of life, rather than a stepping stone on the way to adult life.