From a Burning House: The AIDS Project Los Angeles Writers Workshop Collection: The AIDS Project Los Angeles Writers Workshop Collection

This anthology of writing by people with AIDS has the sad distinction of having the most wrenching Contributors' Notes imaginable. Since the workshop began in 1990, 44 members have died. The writing here ranges from the extremely professional to short fragments that carry very little weight, but most of it settles in the middle, with specific and personal autobiography. There is a sense, however, that showing off skills is not the point. Alan Erenberg recalls how his father arranged a ""secret signal"" (humming loudly) to warn his young son when the boy was engaging in what his father saw as girlish behavior. Frank Wang recalls sending home the body parts of a lover and fellow soldier from Vietnam. Much of the value here lies in the insiders' view of daily life with HIV and AIDS. ""I want to rest/No/I want to eat/No/I want a Cola,"" is the opening of Dave Knight's edgy poem. Doug Bender describes how he insists on wearing a Hickman catheter (through which medications are infused) to the gym, even in the shower. In one of several stories about friends arranging their own deaths, Steve Smith details the painful complications of carrying out such a pact. John D'Amico provides a dry list of the things a friend has left behind, followed by footnotes that reveal the personal history of even the smallest object. Tony Kushner contributes a thoughtful introduction, and Borger both tracks the history of the group and provides instructions for starting other workshops. (June)