Vital Signs: Essential AIDS Fiction

by Richard Canning (Editor), Dale Peck (Foreword)

Contains top-selected literary works inspired by or reflecting the AIDS epidemic, in an anthology that includes Andrew Holleran's depiction of a group of New Yorkers whose lives are irrevocably changed by the disease, Ann Beattie's tale of a woman who tries to find a role for herself among gay friends in crisis, and Thomas Glave's story about an African-American community's response to a friend's death. Original.

Genres: Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Jennifer Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Canning has put together a powerful collection here--there's a good range of both styles and focus (with the theme in mind), and although one or two of the stories left me less than interested, the vast majority of the works here are beautifully written and tightly woven. Even within the theme, in fact, there's so much range of story subject and character that the collection never seems repetitive, which can too often be the case with collections like this. All told, this presented me with a few authors whose works I'm going to look up in the future, and was a striking and enjoyable read.

Certainly, I'd recommend it for interested short story readers.