Loss Within Loss: Artists in the Age of AIDS

LOSS WITHIN LOSS is a major collection of biographical short stories: tributes to friends, lovers and colleagues who have died from AIDS.Several of the contributing writers are quite famous: the lecturer/poet/teacher Maya Angelou, the playwright/screenwriter Craig Lucas ("Prelude To A Kiss," "Longtime Companion"), the novelist Allan Gurganus ("Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All"), the writer Andrew Solomon ("The Noonday Demon") et. al. Several of the dedicatees lived the lives of celebrities: the poet James Merrill, the film makers Derek Jarman and Howard Brookner, the writer Paul Monette. But it is not their fame which is celebrated in this book: it is their love and friendship and, most importantly, their art which is now lost to the world forever because of a disease, the deadly power of which, was and still is, underestimated. The styles of the stories are as diverse as the styles of the individual writers: some read like the poetry they are; some like straight-forward fiction and some like excruciatingly honest, almost farcical diary entries.These are not simply sad stories; they are beautifully written, funny, charming, intelligent, very candid rememberances of lives past passed. Besides the stories, there are some photographs of the artists and their works, biographies of the writers and their subjects, a wonderful photograph by John Dugdale on the cover and an introduction by Edmund WhiteHIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

LOSS WITHIN LOSS is a most appropriately titled reminiscence of the black hole AIDS blasted in our art community. Edmund White, always the sensitive observor and writer of tender memoirs, takes on the role of Editor here and has selected some very fine writers to personalize the contributions and deaths of their friends. He has also written minibiobraphies of not only the artists who have been lost but also of each of the biographers. Selecting artist/bigraphers to highlight in a review of a book of this total force seems almost incongruous, yet Chris DeBlasio is so beautifully defined by William Berger, and the polarities of the lives and deaths of Paul Monette and James Merrill who died within four days of each other are so adroitly observed by their mutual firend J.D. McClatchy, and Felice Picano's warm eulogy for Robert Ferro and all that surrounded the Violet Quill Club are all so fine that they shine especialy brightly. The unexpected joyful aspect of spending time with this extraordinary book is discovering how much we didn't know about so many artists in every field - from poetry, to novels, to puppets, to architecture, to dance. Yes, the names ring distant bells, but when the artists are put into context with the time in which they were creating AND that they were creating knowing that their corporal time was limited, the effect is staggering. I do not find this book at all morose; if anything it is celebratory. And the method of presentation and quality of writing leaves the reader with one primary question: What if AIDS hadn't destroyed so many brilliant minds, so many unborn ideas? As a document on the effect of a devastating disease on the arts and as a resource book of what was happening in the forefront of culture in the 1980s and 1990s, this book will be the gold standard. Highly recommended reading - on so many levels.

This powerful, superb book is peopled with a sampling of the great and graceful artists who have been swept into eternity by AIDS. All of the essays are moving. Especially touching is the memoir which gathers together the angelic Paul Monette and the ferocious James Merrill. Brad Gooch contributes his best writing to date in his touching remembrances of his lovely partner Howard.This book will break your heart and make you smile at the same time. It's truly a work of art.