The Coming of the Night (John Rechy)

Well, I thought this was entertaining, very dark, and also quite brilliant...even if it still stands in the shadow of Rechy's earlier, and more brilliant City of Night. True, both of these novels come from the same depressing world of gay male after hours sleaze, but really I think it's stupid to compare, because they are not the same book. Sort of belonging to that "random strangers randomly becoming marginally involved with eachother's existences" genre that is often so intriguing, but doesn't always mean anything, The Coming of the Night makes good use of this particular narrative device (maybe the fact that this is a book about gay men cruising for sex is enough to fully justify it). The story pounds and throbs through the lives of maybe 10 or so strangers on the same day--a day destined to be memorable--plummeting towards a truly monumental climax. It's both sexually arousing and deeply disturbing, at times reading exactly like pornography, other times more like psychological drama, even horror.
I wonder if a novel like this is anywhere near as powerful to a reader who has no personal investment in the sordid games of gay men...to me this is a disturbing thought. Do these Rechy novels really belong in the gay fiction section?