A well-handled look at the AIDS crisis from the perspective of a man who lived through it.
A gay man recounts his tumultuous relationship with his partner during the 1980s AIDS epidemic in New York City and Boston.
In his debut memoir, retired psychotherapist Ward recalls his rocky relationship with a man named Mark Halberstadt in the early ’80s. The pair met during the author’s vacation to Fire Island, and soon the author found himself “sick with love.” The two shared a passionate but volatile relationship as Halberstadt struggled to pursue a career that he loved and attempted to resolve a legal issue that kept him financially strapped. Although the pair constantly fought about money and their diverging paths in life, they always managed to stay together. The AIDS crisis was always lurking in the background of their lives, but even as the crisis mounted, the author notes that he “didn’t see how AIDS related to me at all.” After a period of illness, Halberstadt was diagnosed with AIDS, and he had to reconcile the fact that the disease had entered his world. Ward decided to stay with Halberstadt “for the duration….In sickness and in health,” finding support and guidance from the growing community in Boston dealing with AIDS and especially from other couples in their position. This fast-paced memoir not only focuses on the hard times between Ward and Halberstadt, but also highlights the couple’s many vacations and sailing trips (a favorite activity of Halberstadt’s) before the latter became ill. The author does an impeccable job of portraying Halberstadt multidimensionally, and he treats him with compassion and fairness throughout. Ward is a talented storyteller who’s created a compelling, emotionally rich tale out of a difficult, tragic time in American history. Anyone looking for more insight into the AIDS epidemic from a deeply personal perspective will likely benefit from this book. It could have been incredibly difficult to read about someone watching their partner struggle through disease, but Ward handles his and Halberstadt’s story with admirable grace.
A well-handled look at the AIDS crisis from the perspective of a man who lived through it.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9967103-3-6
Page Count: -
Publisher: Querelle Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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