by Paul Reed
1984, 2024 (Rebel Satori Press)
One swelteringly hot summer day, Andy Stone makes an appointment to see his doctor at Mt. Zion Hospital. He´s been afflicted with a mysterious illness for some time, and it´s impacting not only his health, but also his job down at City Hall as well as his relationship with his lover David. His physician, Dr. Walter Branch, has known Andy literally since the day he was born: while still a medical student, he performed an emergency delivery during a blizzard, and he considers the young man more than just a patient. Andy´s contradictory symptoms--fever, loss of weight, sleeplessness--are perplexing, particularly in a young man who is generally so healthy and vibrant. Ordinarily, Branch might conclude that he might be suffering from hepatitis--except there are also those purple lesions under Andy´s armpits, and later are discovered inside his mouth.
The time is June 1981, and such is the opening of Facing It, a powerful novel about the early months of the AIDS epidemic in America. Written by Paul Reed when he was only 28, this debut work of fiction was originally published in 1984 by Gay Sunshine Press and was re-released last month by Rebel Satori Press to coincide with World AIDS Day. While a considerable library of titles that could be classified as "AIDS literature" already exists, part of what makes Facing It so fresh is that it was written so early on in the epidemic. Set over an eight-month period in the early ´80s, Andy´s hospital visit and the rest of the action of the book unfolds years before the formation of ACT UP in 1987 or the NAMES Project (aka the AIDS Memorial Quilt) in 1985. In the novel, a couple of characters reference the formation of the Gay Mens Health Crisis (GMHC) in 1982 with cautious optimism. In fact, when Reed´s story begins, AIDS was still called GRID, and how it was transmitted still remained a mystery to doctors and the general public alike. Facing It reads like a report from the start of a long war.
The intertwining lives of Branch & Andy form the heart of the story, as both confront the grim reality of this new virus affecting not only young gay men, but also IV drug users, Haitian immigrants, and women. As andy´s health rapidly deteriorates, his relationship with his lover becomes more emotionally intimate even as sex becomes practically non-existent. We also see how others in his life react to his diagnosis: co-workers, friends, and most of Andy´s immediate family ostracize him, afraid that they will "catch this gay disease" simply by sharing a room with him; or judging him and his illness as being due to his "sinful lifestyle".
Branch too is not immune to prejudice and short-sightedness with regards to his efforts to secure funding to do more research on this new disease. Despite working alongside men and women within the field of medicine, Reed highlights how even people of science can be guilty of discrimination, fear, and internalized homophobia.
At times, some passages in Reed´s novel may feel awkward; Facing It is largely a fact-based fiction that sometimes deploys plot elements that may remind people of a melodrama. For readers who did not live through the AIDS epidemic, one may find some of the religious convictions of Andy´s family outrageous or extreme; others may find the homophobia portrayed in the book unsettling, particularly when expressed by other gay men and/or physicians. But one need only look at some of our more recent history related to covid-19 to realize that one´s identity nor one´s profession automatically inoculates one from intolerance or inequity.
Ultimately, Facing It is a moving tale about human dignity, simply told, by someone who was there. Like its two main protagonists, Paul Reed used everything available to remain resilient in the face of unspeakable horror. We are fortunate that he left us this book, a personal chronicle of what it means to not back down in confronting prejudice, suffering, or fear.
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