The Great Believers

This is easily one of the best books of many set during the early years of the AIDS pandemic--it is fully alive, which makes the tragic, criminal waste of that period that much more devastating. You're amused, moved and angered often within the space of a page. The friends, lovers and colleagues who populate the story--which jumps back and forth in time between the early '80s (moving into the '90s) and 2016--feel familiar, as if from your own circle. Some of Makkai's nuanced observations on the inner lives of her people, especially leading character Yale, are revelatory; she hits on several of the particular and private pains acquired by many gay men who came of age being made to feel like imposters, at best, in a world that shunned them. It is, obviously, not an uplifting story but it is filled with love and in no way a chore. A beautiful, engaging, heartbreaking read that I cherished.