Henry James with sex Oct 4, 2011
by apollo
"Jamesian" is to me a term of disparagement--wordy and displaying how to write and to say very little in the process. But this book does say something--lessons in how to be a loser. (Wouldn't it be nice if a novel told you how to be a winner?) AIDS, of course, figures heavily in it--if you want drama in a gay novel, how can you do better than AIDS. Cocaine and three-ways: all the magic ingredients to give you a feling or anguish--but did you really want that anguish? Ingredients made-to-order drama, because like tragic operas, AIDS novels end with death, and make you feel so wonderful about it. Yes, exquisite writing. Read it and admire, then give it away, you won't want to read it again. Neither will the friend you gave it to.
