Afterlife
by Paul Monette
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A powerful exploration of the way AIDS reshapes relationships and lives. Afterlife is a haunting and unforgettable story of men facing loss and seeking love, movingly capturing the moment in the 1980s when the AIDS epidemic was completely devastating the American gay community. Here, National Book Award winner Paul Monette depicts three men of various economic and social backgrounds, all with one thing in common: They are widowers, in a way, and all of their lovers died of AIDS in an LA show more hospital within a week of one another. Steven, Sonny, and Dell meet weekly to discuss how to go on with their lives despite the hanging sword of being HIV positive. One tries to find a semblance of normalcy; one rebels openly against the disease, choosing to treat his body as a temple that he can consecrate and desecrate at will; and one throws himself into fierce political activism. No matter what path each one takes, they are all searching for one thing: a way to live and love again. Afterlife finds Paul Monette at his most autobiographical, portraying men in a situation that he himself experienced, and one that he described to critical acclaim in the award-winning Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Paul Monette including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the Paul Monette papers of the UCLA Library Special Collections. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
The very first word that comes to mind when trying to describe Afterlife is heartbreaking. Taking place at the "start" of the AIDs epidemic in the heart of United State's "ground zero" in San Francisco, it tells the story of a group of gay men trying to make sense of the horrific disease while coping with personal loss. Facing their own mortality, each man has lost a partner to AIDs but display very different coping mechanisms as they have very different support systems. They form a Saturday night support group of survivors, each asking themselves, but for how long? This is a story of courage; the willingness to live and love in the face of death.
This novel - poignant, wry, and beautifully written - lets us in on what it felt like to be a gay man in the 80s, when the AIDS epidemic started devouring young lives. The three principle characters have all lost their lovers, and have come together to support each other. Each of them is also living with a death sentence. They are all riveting characters, and they handle the situation very differently. One seeks revenge on an uncaring society, one seeks spiritual redemption, and one tries again (most terrifyingly) for love. This is a powerful novel, well worth reading.
Wonderful novel exploring the life of AIDS widows.
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Author Information
28+ Works 4,464 Members
Paul Monette was born on October 16, 1945 in Lawrence, Mass., and has published numerous poetry collections, novels, novelizations, memoirs, and nonfiction works. A distinguished author of both poetry and prose, Monette's writings often explored issues relating to homosexuality and AIDS. After receiving critical acclaim in 1975 for a poetry show more collection The Carpenter at the Asylum, he veered away from his mainstay theme and produced an unlikely pair of books that demonstrated his poet's way with words. The books were No Witnesses, a collection of poems featuring imaginary adventures of famous figures, written in 1981, and The Long Shot, a mystery in which an avid shopper and a forger team to solve a murder. However, his following mystery, Lightfall, written in 1982, was not well-received by the critics. Monette next wrote Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story, which won the National Book Award for nonfiction in 1992. His last work, Last Watch of the Night: Essays Too Personal and Otherwise, was a collection of 10 moving and uncompromising essays dealing with topics such as his beloved dog Puck and the 1993 Gay and Lesbian March on Washington, D.C. Paul Monette died as a result of complications from AIDS on February 18, 1995. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Awards
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1990
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- Members
- 332
- Popularity
- 95,356
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.84)
- Languages
- Dutch, English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 8
- ASINs
- 3
