The above link provides an extensive excerpt from this little story. Actually, it's the entire first chapter.
The meat of the story--intimate reflections on the U.S. Army--is bookended by the first and last chapters. Those two chapters see the protagonist--after having returned from the Army--carousing in the pre-AIDS profuse sleaze extant within the dark confines of a Levi/leather bar in lower downtown Denver. The last chapter places the protagonist in the same bar after the onset of AIDS, where the dignification of the space speaks volumes about those dark and dangerous times. And, of course, the story is a study of one man's coming to terms with himself; something that, perhaps, would never have been completely fulfilled if it had not been for the U.S. Army.
No comments:
Post a Comment