Spontaneous
Combustion by
David B. Feinberg
B.J. Rosenthal--the dishy, neurotic, horny,
cranky, and adamantly gay hero of Feinberg's Eighty-Sixed--is
resurrected in this harrowing and insightful novel about AIDS and
enduring with dignity and humor in a world that seems bent on
stripping him of both.--The Advocate
"Funny, intelligent, serious,
delightful...For anyone who's ever been through very difficult
times and/or has been affected by the AIDS epidemic, this book
will both hit home and uplift. I disagree strongly with the review
at the top of this page. Yes, the book is disjointed, but in that
sense it's an accurate picture of life in the midst of chaos and
tragedy. The ultimate effect of the book, though, isn't a big
disorganized mess, but rather the possibility for survival and
even happiness. I highly recommend this book! -- Anonymous Review
Queer
and Loathing; Rants and Raves of a Raging AIDS Clone by
David B. Feinberg, Tony
Kushner (Introduction)
A collection of autobiographical essays, rogue
journalism, satire, and other writings by the late gay activist
explores the experience of being gay, Jewish, and having AIDS in
America from a darkly humorous perspective.
In his nonfiction debut, a collection of
autobiographical essays chronicling their author's descent into
HIV hell, Feinberg merges irreverent humor, incisive observation
of all things political, and grim documentation of physical
deterioration. Included with manic lists of "100 Ways You Can
Fight the AIDS Crisis," "Sex Tips for Boys" and,
especially touchingly, of his life regrets are notes on waiting
for the end of the world, documentation of his fiendishly
multiplying warts as well as diminishing T-cells (and consequent
official classification as a person with AIDS), and the entry that
gives the book its title, his gonzo-journalistic recollections of
his part in the 1988 ACT-UP seizure of the Federal Drug
Administration's headquarters. Though maybe a bit too long and
tedious for some tastes, that essay establishes the book's overall
tone--a compound of rage, desperation, and courage that in the
piece itself resounds from a background of governmental
bureaucracy and demonstrators' factionalism and in-fighting, all
heavily laced with black humor. "Faced with the AIDS
crisis," Feinberg writes, "sometimes one laughs to avoid
crying." Whitney Scott From Booklist
