AFTERLIFE

by Paul Monette ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1990

Again, Monette (Lightfall, 1982; The Long Shot, 1981; and the moving non-fiction Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir, 1988) writes from the AIDS front lines, this time with the compelling story of three men whose lovers have died of the disease. Stephen Shaw, Sonny Cevathas, and Del Espinoza are all ""AIDS widows""--they have watched their lovers die within the space of one horrible week in a Los Angeles hospital. Now they meet on a more or less regular basis and try to carry on with their lives, despite the insistent, ominous fact that all have tested HIV-positive. Stephen, the sanest of the three, runs a travel agency, tries to keep up his health, and yearns fox safe sex and true love. Sonny's thing is denial--he hones his perfect body at trendy gyms and practices decidedly unsafe sex with rich lovers. And Del, a landscaper, is an enraged gay activist who makes anonymous phone calls to city agencies claiming that he has dumped tainted blood into the L.A. water supply. In the end, Stephen finds happiness with Mark Inman, an HIV-positive television mogul; Sonny gains enlightenment from a New Age guru and leaves L.A. to search for his real self; and the ill-fated Del murders a homophobic evangelist preacher and then kills himself. Despite the occasional clunkily purple prose (""Lou's bedroom eyes were full of dirty linen""), a surprisingly highly detailed and (with the exception of Del) surprisingly ungrim slice of gay life.

Pub Date: March 1, 1990

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1990

Categories: FICTION