Quote:
Originally Posted by ATDrake
Spoiler:
Hard by Wayne Hoffman (not to be confused with the namesake celebrity mentalist Wikipedia, but apparently prominent journalist and activist in his own right), is his contemporary retro-period literary fiction lifestyle drama novel, set in New York circa the 1990s in the immediate aftermath of the initial AIDS crisis, as he depicts how the gay community was affected through the eyes of characters from all walks of life, told in a slightly experimental format within the space of one year, free courtesy of LGBT specialty publisher Lethe Press, who are e-printing it from its original 2006 Carroll & Graf hardcover edition.
NB: as mentioned in the blurb, this is apparently a conceptual partner novel to an earlier similar one exploring the NYC gay community during the 70s during the height of sexual liberation, and therefore there's some erotic content in it which some of the editorial reviews describe as "raunchy". So caveat Gentle Reader if you think you might be uncomfortable reading that, though that's certainly not all there is to the story and the blurb also likens it to Armistead Maupin's style of LGBT slice-of-life literary fiction.
Currently free (and DRM-free) @ Amazon (available to Canadians & in the UK and pretty much everywhere else they sell worldwide, since this is being done via the KDP Select exclusive-or-else program)
Description
Taking place over the course of a single year, Hard periodically stops the action to delve into the sexual psyche of its main characters, exploring what motivates them, what turns them on, what defines their identity — what makes them hard. As Faggots explored the 1970s sexual universe of gay men in New York, Hard takes a serious look a generation later, taking readers into adult theaters, online chat rooms, bedrooms, and into the minds of the gay men who have sex there.
But while Faggots was written before AIDS, the characters in Hard are very much affected by the epidemic: Frank lost his lover to the disease, Gene is HIV-positive, Aaron's lover unwittingly puts them both in danger, and Moe's sexual politics are deeply informed by AIDS. There's nobody in Hard who hasn't had his sexuality and politics shaped by the epidemic. There's also a motley crew of activists and sex partners, co-workers and family members, porn stars and B-list celebrities. The complex web of characters and subplots create a rich portrait of New York in the 1990s. And, like Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City, Hard does it with edgy humor, snappy dialogue, and a scene-driven episodic structure.
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If you're interested, it appears that it's contrasting this book to "Faggots" by Larry Kramer. I remember reading that when my brother came out and admitted to being diagnosed with AIDS. Wild times in the 70s.
ETA: I meant to say that Overdrive offers the Kramer book, but it'll depend on your library system. I have access to four of them and none of them offer "Faggots". Two out of four carry other books he wrote. I suspect the book would be considered controversial to lots of library boards.