This image is the cover for the book Reflections

Reflections

From an acclaimed memoirist and National Book Award winner: Three groundbreaking works of nonfiction put a human face on the AIDS epidemic.

Paul Monette’s searing memoirs of growing up, coming out, and losing his beloved partner to AIDS are now available in a single volume.

Becoming a Man: This National Book Award–winning memoir follows Monette’s childhood. Growing up all-American, Catholic, overachieving . . . and closeted, Monette wrestled with his sexuality for the first thirty years of his life, priding himself on his ability to “pass” for straight. This intimate portrait of a young man’s struggle with his own desires and journey to adulthood and self-acceptance through grace and honesty is witty, humorous, and deeply felt.

Borrowed Time: Chronicling Monette’s relationship with Roger Horwitz, this tragic true story follows Horwitz’s fight against and eventual death from AIDS. A “tender and lyrical” memoir (TheNew York Times Book Review), it remains one of the most raw and human tales of the AIDS era—a “searing, shattering, ultimately hope-inspiring account of a great love story” (San Francisco Examiner).

The Last Watch of the Night: Compiling work from the last two years of his life, this collection of essays documents Monette’s reflections as he slowly succumbed to AIDS. Ringing with humor, rage, and passion, his words provide a breathtaking view from inside the AIDS scourge.

Brutal, funny, and startlingly honest, this comprehensive volume brings together some of the most important stories of the AIDS era.

Paul Monette

Paul Monette (1945–1995) was an author, poet, and gay rights activist. Born in Massachusetts and educated at Yale University, he moved with his partner Roger Horwitz to Los Angeles in 1978 and became involved in the gay rights movement. Monette’s writing captures the sense of heartbreak and loss at the center of the AIDS crisis. His first novel, Taking Care of Mrs. Carroll, was published in 1978, and he went on to write several more works of fiction, poetry, and memoir. Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir, the tender account of his partner’s battle with the disease, earned him both PEN Center West and Lambda literary awards. In 1992, Monette won the National Book Award in Nonfiction for Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story, an autobiography detailing his early life and his struggle with his sexuality. Written as a classic coming-of-age story, Becoming a Man became a seminal coming-out story. In 1995, Monette founded the Monette-Horwitz Trust, which honors individuals and organizations working to combat homophobia. Monette died in his home in West Hollywood in 1995 of complications from AIDS.

Open Road Integrated Media