Sweetheart

A novel that mentions, albeit fleetingly, a ``wonderful new musical'' entitled Gimme Back My Pork Chop can't be all bad; indeed, this witty sequel to Boys Like Us is just about all good. In three segments covering the period from November 1989 to May 1990, McGehee continues his exuberant chronicle of Zero McNoo, a shimmering beacon of Toronto's gay set. Zero meets Jeff at an AIDS-research benefit: it seems serious. We meet Zero's oddball family, assembled for an Arkansas wedding: it looks hilarious. (Readers overcome with laughter may wonder what Dear Abby counsels about shoot-'em-ups at nuptial receptions.) The book charms by not trying to; relying on keenly rendered dialogue, McGehee shunts his vivid characters effortlessly between high comedy and drama. (AIDS and ``the camaraderie of the front lines'' are never distant, and are handled with a sensitive, never melodramatic touch.) Though not quite as loopy as it apparently intends to be, the book's almost palpable sweetness creates a winning pastiche. The author's obvious affection for and thorough understanding of his eccentric cast infuses the tale with a cuddly, comic romanticism. Sadly, readers will be deprived of this lovable hero's further adventures: McGehee died of AIDS last September. (June)