One of Another

This was a fine book with realistic characters, but I can't help but compare it to the author's first work, "Barefoot". The original grabbed me, and haunted me, and I read it in just a couple of sittings and it became one of my favorite books. "Another" does an equally good job of capturing the feel of San Francisco in the 80's during the AIDS epidemic, but with such a relatively deep subject, the story only felt two-and-a-half dimensional, never quite going as deep as I would have liked. It is an easy read and not terribly challenging, and I had trouble keeping the secondary characters straight for a while. Despite these minor issues, Lizann handles a sensitive and dramatic situation very well. The characters feel true to life and the reader wishes they could keep going, to find out more about their pasts and their futures. My teenage daughter found the book and read the entire thing in one sitting. She described it as "'Rent' minus the music", one of her favorites. I can't quite go for the 5-stars on this one, but I would heartily recommend it to most audiences, and most ages, especially older teens. And as a new, low-volume author, it's even more fun to feel like you've discovered a promising new talent. I will continue to purchase Lizann's future books sight unseen.

One of Another was a tale of fear and tragedy blended beautifully with tenderness, loyalty, and love. The curse of the aids virus hit hard devastating lives yet it also brought people together and allowed the beauty of spirit to shine through the darkness of illness and death. I lost a friend to Aids and found this book very moving. Ms. Bassham took us back to the center of it all and allowed us to feel it with our hearts by creating rich characters immersed in the Aids epidemic. My hope is that this can bring new awareness and empathy to both the gay population and to those afflicted with this dreaded disease. I highly recommend this book. It is an easy, enjoyable read.

In "One of Another," Lizann Bassham has written a tender, funny, and of course heartbreaking chronicle of AIDS in mid-eighties San Francisco. At a time when the source of AIDS was still in doubt, and few effective treatments existed for combating this new terror, three straight and five gay characters form an extended and loving family. In San Francisco's Castro District, ground zero for the AIDS epidemic in the city, all of them battle AIDS - either through having the disease itself or in caring for those who do - with humor, courage, and love. If you're feeling cynical about human behavior, I recommend you visit the eight heroes of this book as a tonic. At the end of reading "One of Another," I so much missed the characters that I immediately reread the book. And even after that I've continued to reread my favorite passages. While this story is about dying - the "dance of death," as my favorite character, Libby, characterizes it - it's much more about living. These are not characters marking time but people fully living life in the face of death. I envy anyone who has the opportunity to meet the smart, funny, and brave family members of "One of Another" for the first time. Lizann Bassham has created her own tales of the city that is different from Armistead Maupin's, but in some ways just as memorable.