Valley of the Shadow

Valley of the Shadow was a novel I stumbled across in a second-hand bookstore. I had only read his short story "The Boys in the Bars" and I was blown away by it. This novel, and the other, Joseph and the Old Man, were really wonderful. Fully loaded with emotion.The story here is that of a doomed love affair. As doomed by the immaturity of a men in their 20s as by the virus stalking them and so many of the people they know in gay New York and Fire Island. The milieu is definitely the upper class white gay male thing, but the emotions are universal. Teddy and the narrator meet when the latter is about 19 or 20. Their relationship is on-again off-again for about eight years, but the love is always there, until the end. And we all know what the end is. What we don't know, or don't fully realize, is the emotional wipeout the virus brings. This novel shows it. The narration is one that meanders nonlinearly, like memory. Love, and memory, are the most tangibly connected nontangibles we have, and here, the link is fully realized. Davis's ability to memorialize what can be an Everycouple of men, as well as a liberated generation tragically cut short and cruelly ignored by its governement is a monument to counter the AIDS Crisis from completely destroying our mutual hopes, dreams, and futures.

This is a powerful story by one of the best authors of "gay fiction". One of the best novels I have read. Truely unforgetable.

This was one of the best book I've ever read. Excellent character development and story telling that just draws you into the lives of the characters. I also recommend Joseph and the Old Man - I'm looking for Boys in the Bars.