Halfway Home

Paul Monette

Crown Publishers, 1991 - Fiction - 262 pages

Halfway Home centers around the story of thirty-four year old Tom Shaheen, an actor living with AIDS in southern California who has been forced to retire, because of his illness, to an isolated beach house. Tom's peaceful existence is shaken to the core when he receives a sudden and unexpected visit from his brother, Brian, a former high school football hero who, well-loved and athletic, was Tom's exact opposite while growing up. Brian's visit turns out to be more than Tom bargained for--Brian is seeking safety and sanctuary for himself and his family because of shady dealings in his contractor business back in Connecticut. In the midst of dealing with his brother's crisis, Tom begins to bond deeply with his landlord, Gray--a connection that evolves into a bittersweet love affair, inspiring hope that there can be a life after AIDS.

Contents

• Section 1: 1
• Section 2: 26
• Section 3: 54

About the author

Paul Monette was born on October 16, 1945 in Lawrence, Mass., and has published numerous poetry collections, novels, novelizations, memoirs, and nonfiction works. A distinguished author of both poetry and prose, Monette's writings often explored issues relating to homosexuality and AIDS. After receiving critical acclaim in 1975 for a poetry collection The Carpenter at the Asylum, he veered away from his mainstay theme and produced an unlikely pair of books that demonstrated his poet's way with words. The books were No Witnesses, a collection of poems featuring imaginary adventures of famous figures, written in 1981, and The Long Shot, a mystery in which an avid shopper and a forger team to solve a murder. However, his following mystery, Lightfall, written in 1982, was not well-received by the critics. Monette next wrote Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story, which won the National Book Award for nonfiction in 1992. His last work, Last Watch of the Night: Essays Too Personal and Otherwise, was a collection of 10 moving and uncompromising essays dealing with topics such as his beloved dog Puck and the 1993 Gay and Lesbian March on Washington, D.C. Paul Monette died as a result of complications from AIDS on February 18, 1995.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Halfway Home; Wilensky-Ritzenhein Gay Book Collection
• Author: Paul Monette
• Publisher: Crown Publishers, 1991
• Original from: the University of Michigan
• Digitized: Mar 11, 2008
• ISBN: 0517583291, 9780517583296
• Length: 262 pages
• Subjects: Fiction / General