April Fool's Day

APRIL FOOL'S DAY was the hardest book Bryce Courtenay ever wrote, and it's also one of the hardest books I ever read. I started it (the first time) on a Friday evening and did nothing but read (and occasionally try to sleep) until I had finished it -- I couldn't imagine stepping out of the middle of the story into my own life. I've read this book, given it away, bought it again, several times: it's not a book you can forget. Courtenay's son Damon was born in Australia with severe haemophilia. Along with the moving story of an afflicted but strong-spirited boy, Courtenay paints a bitter and angry picture of the Australian medical community at that time, steeped in paternalism and political expediency. Several times a week Damon would bleed into his joints, and his father would take him to the hospital for infusion of Factor VIII to induce clotting. In other countries families were allowed to stock Factor VIII and infuse at home, minimizing both disruption to the family and permanent damage to joints. This was not permitted in Australia, to the extreme detriment of haemophiliacs and their families. Worse than this, the screening and fractionation of donated blood in Australia did not at that time meet safety standards known and required in other countries. Damon contracted AIDS from the contaminated Australian blood supply and died of that disease on April Fool's Day in 1991. The book is saturated with the author's bitterness, and the reader can't fail to walk his angry path with him. You WANT it to have been different, you WANT to find a justification or at least an exculpation for the medical mismanagement of Damon and the entire cohort of haemophiliacs in that time and place. You'll find a celebration of Damon's spirit and his family's faithful support. You'll find love that fights tooth and nail for Damon. But you won't find forgiveness or exoneration, and if you're like me you'll think you should, and keep reading the book again looking for it -- in yourself if not in the author. Courtenay's work (THE POWER OF ONE, TANDIA, WHITETHORN, etc) appears not to be well known in the United States, although he's highly regarded in his birth county (South Africa) and adopted country (Australia). APRIL FOOL'S DAY should be more widely known. It's a challenging read with a personal message the reader has to translate and tease apart. Read it for that challenge.

This is BC's non-fiction novel that tells the story of his son Damon - in heart-wrenching detail - about his plight with AIDS. Oh, and lest I forget, AIDS that was injected into him by the Australian medical community, thanks to their lax policies on blood donorship.For those not up on BC, a short history - BC was under a deadline to produce TANDIA (the "Power of One" sequel), and many fans were lukewarm about Tandia - well, it was because everything you read in 'April Fools day' was going on while he had to finish it!Back to this novel - it is a must-read for anyone with a curiosity about what a family goes through in the face of tragedy, and one that doesn't mind LIVING through the REAL life drama and frustration of a father and mother doing EVERYTHING they can to save their son dying of a disease. It got this grown man some major lumps in my throat, fists on the table, and some tears here and there - I cannot say that about anything I have ever read before in my life. Bryce really puts all his heart and soul to make you, the reader, feel his anger, pain, helplessness and sorrow about someone you will never know. This is a major literary achievement for one of the most brilliant authors of our time.As I have said in some of my other BC reviews - it is a shame that he does not get more 'exposure' in the US. My wife and I have read everything he has ever done, and not 1 page is a dud amongst the thousands he has written - and we can name thousands of duds out there right now on your supermarket shelves...

This book was a very heart felt book and one in which leads the reader to feel for the family. Not only the pain and suffering that the family went through, but also the love that they had for each other. It is a real inspiration to anyone who reads it. You sometimes often wonder if you could deal with the same set of circumstances in your life. This book really brings out the heart in you and also shows you that you can basically make it through anything. This was a great book and I recommend it to anyone.

Since purchasing this book when it was first released I have read and reread it yet it still has not lost the power that gripped me originally nor the need for tissues. Bryce Courtenay tells a personal, emotive story with a great deal of feeling. His descriptions of the life of a person with aids are thought provoking and compassionate. I feel as if I know Damon and Celeste just through what is written. April Fools Day is a must read for all people. It will keep your attention right through to the end.

April Fool's Day is the most moving book I've read this year. I find it really important that Courtenay decided to share such a personal thing to share with us. Although Damon died when he was only 24, I believe he was very lucky to have known really love (I wish every man had a loyal and wonderful girlfriend like Celeste) and have had constant support from his parents and brothers. Despite the acute and neverending pain he was in all the time, I believe, Damon was very strong, stronger than most of the people I've met or heard of, because he didn't want anyone to pity him for his illness. He tried everything he could to lead a normal life and has made me aware that nothing in this world is more important than health. Thus we should treasure every single minute in our lives. Bryce Courtenay is one of the best authors, and if there are better authors than him I'm afraid I haven't read them yet. Thank you.