ChaimD reviewed Eighty-sixed by Feinberg, David B.
Review of 'Eighty-sixed' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
It took me a long time to read this book; what do I, gay and living in NZ, have in common with the main character, gay, living in NYC, during the early years of the AIDS crisis? I'm glad I persevered. The main similarity is the fact that we both lived during a time when AIDS is ever present - BJ, the character, unfortunately though during the early years, and myself, much much later.
The book is structured over a calendar year, and we see the life of BJ as a gay man in the NYC gay community. There's the large network of friends, lovers and ex-lovers. There's work. Family. His therapist. We see BJ chat with friends, boyfriends and ex-boyfriends, as slowly the spectre of AIDS looms over him. This is in the time when there were no easy HIV tests, so every swollen gland, every cough leads to …
It took me a long time to read this book; what do I, gay and living in NZ, have in common with the main character, gay, living in NYC, during the early years of the AIDS crisis? I'm glad I persevered. The main similarity is the fact that we both lived during a time when AIDS is ever present - BJ, the character, unfortunately though during the early years, and myself, much much later.
The book is structured over a calendar year, and we see the life of BJ as a gay man in the NYC gay community. There's the large network of friends, lovers and ex-lovers. There's work. Family. His therapist. We see BJ chat with friends, boyfriends and ex-boyfriends, as slowly the spectre of AIDS looms over him. This is in the time when there were no easy HIV tests, so every swollen gland, every cough leads to a worry that it might lead to AIDS, which only time will tell.
I marvelled at the author's style of writing - it's a very fast paced action - something that is actually hard to pull off. It reflects I suppose the fast NYC environment where the author lived.
AS a piece of writing it stands as a historical piece, as we remember the way in which Regan shamefully denied any AIDS crisis and denied any funding for tests or research. And it stands for the many thousands of men who needlessly died.
