Midnight Cowboy Author:James Leo Herlihy Midnight Cowboy is a 1965 novel by James Leo Herlihy that chronicles the naïve Texan Joe Buck's odyssey from Texas to New York, New York, where he plans on realizing his dream of becoming a male prostitute servicing rich ladies. Joe proves a failure as a hustler and winds up on the streets serving a mainly gay clientele, but he do... more »es make a human connection with Rico "Ratso" Rizzo, his roommate and would-be pimp.« less