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A review by pturnbull
Later: My Life at the Edge of the World by Paul Lisicky
4.0
A beautifully written, literary memoir about Lisicky's early years in Provincetown from 1991-1994. I was immediately captivated by the opening scene, in which he is saying goodbye to his mother, and on the brink of a new life. He realizes, "She is afraid of my living among my kind, especially now that so many young men are dying of AIDS. She is expecting me to die of AIDS."
AIDS is the character all other characters maneuver around, containing as it does the fullness of both sex and death within itself. Liskicky describes the times and the social scene in a way that is both lyrical and psychologically astute. He ends with a chapter dated 2018, "Afterlife," when Lisicky commits to daily PrEP to protect himself from HIV/AIDS. This decision is a repudiation of all the fear and damage of the past, but the tragedy of the disease still resonates, still spreads itself through young gay men in the interior of the nation and elsewhere.
I am awed by the depth and beauty of Lisicky's ruminations about culture, identity, and sexuality and am glad that I purchased this book.
AIDS is the character all other characters maneuver around, containing as it does the fullness of both sex and death within itself. Liskicky describes the times and the social scene in a way that is both lyrical and psychologically astute. He ends with a chapter dated 2018, "Afterlife," when Lisicky commits to daily PrEP to protect himself from HIV/AIDS. This decision is a repudiation of all the fear and damage of the past, but the tragedy of the disease still resonates, still spreads itself through young gay men in the interior of the nation and elsewhere.
I am awed by the depth and beauty of Lisicky's ruminations about culture, identity, and sexuality and am glad that I purchased this book.