Personal Dispatches: Writers Confront AIDS

This affecting anthology reprinting works of gay writers--Andrew Holleran, Edmund White, Robert Gluck and many lesser known authors--reflects the personal and political impact on the gay community and movement of the epidemic. The pieces vary from the lyrical to the polemical, from angry to mystical--and all are bound by a common fear and need to bear witness. Most poignant are accounts of homophobic parents who devotedly nurse their terminally ill ``prodigal'' children and ``buddy'' care-givers who themselves are doomed. Preston ( Safe Sex , etc.), who is also infected, demonstrates how self-righteous elements in society use AIDS to attack gay sexuality and how the gay community has reacted with solidarity and support of its victims. (Nov.)