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Lazarus Rising Lib/E
The Rome Prize–winning author of In the Shadow of the Bridge “evokes a bygone era and an earlier pandemic. . . . An affecting turn in [his] long career” ( Publishers Weekly ). This dark, propulsive novel, the crowning masterwork by ninety-two-year-old Joseph Caldwell, takes place during 1992, when AIDS was still an incurable scourge and death casualties were everyday events. One cold winter night, when the artist Dempsey Coates is on her way home to her loft, she encounters a blaze, several alarms ringing and water jetting every which way from fire hydrants. She ends up offering several firemen a place to get warm. One of them is Johnny Donegan, a passionate lad who falls madly in love with her and is determined, through prayer and sheer perseverance, to make a life with Dempsey unimpeded by the specter of her illness. But when the couple is finally blessed with an unexpected stroke of good luck, this one twist of fate that promises an enduring future will end up coming between them in a very tragic and unforeseen way. Praise for In the Shadow of the Bridge “A moving memoir and a look at gay and artistic life in New York City from the 1950s on, through the AIDS epidemic.” — New York Post “In telling the story of coming to NYC as a young man, grappling with his desire to be an artist, to be a man of faith, and his desire for the love of another man, Joseph Caldwell tells the story of a time and place—the story of a generation.” —A. M. Homes, Orange Prize–winning author of May We Be Forgiven
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First published December 1, 2020
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About the author
Joseph Caldwell
34 books19 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
A playwright and novelist whose books include The Pig Did It, The Pig Comes to Dinner, and The Pig Goes to Hog Heaven, Joseph Caldwell has been awarded the Rome Prize for Literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in New York City and is working on various post-Pig writing projects.
A playwright and novelist whose books include The Pig Did It, The Pig Comes to Dinner, and The Pig Goes to Hog Heaven, Joseph Caldwell has been awarded the Rome Prize for Literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in New York City and is working on various post-Pig writing projects.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 7, 2020
Lazarus Rising: A Novel, Joseph Caldwell, Author
On a cold winter’s day, the life of Dempsey Coates is changed forever because of a chance meeting. On her way to her artist’s lair, she notices a group of exhausted firemen trying to get into one of the buildings in order to briefly warm up. No one is opening a door to them. They were granted a brief break from the fire fighting and they longed to sit down in a warm lobby to rest. Moved by the sight of their weary, frozen faces, Dempsey invites them in and serves them some hot coffee.
Johnny Donegan is one of the firefighters. He becomes smitten with her. Soon, they are in an active love affair. Dempsey, though, grows tired of the relationship and wants to moves on. Unfortunately, she also moves into the world of drugs. When she discovers she is pregnant, she beats the drug habit, but her pregnancy has a tragic end when she discovers that she has AIDS.
Dempsey begins the cocktail of drugs, the therapeutics that have been discovered to keep victims alive. After more than a decade passes, Dempsey and Johnny suddenly meet again. He volunteers to model for a painting she is doing. The painting is going to memorialize a friend who has died from AIDS, and she tells Johnny that she, too, has the dread disease. He doesn’t seem to mind. Totally smitten with her, he takes care of her every need and they are once again lovers. (Here, the reader who remembers the early days of AIDS, will have to suspend disbelief. Relationships were more feared than sought after, because the fear of catching AIDS was considered a death sentence).
Johnny, a devout Catholic, manages to find a priest who is willing to allow them to marry, even though the marriage cannot be properly consummated in the eyes of the Church. The Church forbade the use of condoms and forbade the marriage, but Johnny wants only to care for the woman who is the love of his life. When Dempsey’s doctor tells her some surprising, unexpected news, she descends into a somber and introspective mood. She begins to question everything, her relationship with Johnny, the idea of miracles, and the meaning of life and death. She is filled with doubt and guilt. Her doctor had asked if someone had prayed for her. Why? Although her future with Johnny is waiting, she no longer knows if that marriage will take place.
The author has captured the character’s dilemma well, from the first moment of her diagnosis, to the last when she struggles to understand the meaning of what has happened to her. After living with fear and dread, after one has prepared for the end, how does one proceed if the danger disappears? Why do some live while others die? Why do some suffer more than others. Do we understand survivor’s guilt? After preparing for the difficult task of facing death with courage, can one simply turn around and face the unpredictable future of a long life? Is one grateful or resentful?
The book puts a gentler hand on the subject of AIDS, on facing life and death, and reveals the emotional and mental strain that accompanies the decay of the body and mind from the disease. Faith in G-d and religious dogma are questioned often. Relationships are judged as the value of life is questioned. The early 90’s were still backward. Hospital rules were archaic. Same sex couples could not comfort each other because they were not related. The Church did not recognize marriages that could not be properly consummated. Certain relationships were considered unholy and abnormal, or as illnesses. Drug use became more widespread. In that time frame, were Johnny and Dempsey involved in a dance of death of which each was unaware? When you know you have limited time, do your actions take on different meaning, are some meaningless?
One of my friends faced his end with courage, but his bisexual partner faced it with denial and refused all help with experimental drugs in the event she would test positive. She refused to be tested. When Dempsey wasted the cocktail of drugs, I was disturbed. There were no therapeutics for my friend. Surely, when they were available, wasting them would be a sin.
Was this story a parody of the parable of Lazarus, the rich man vs. the poor one? Who was the rich one? Who was the poor one? Would both suffer equally? I deeply respect my friends who have faced untimely ends with courage and dignity. What should I think of Dempsey’s reaction to the gift of life which was the antithesis of her reaction to the sentence of death? After preparing for one’s death, realizing the importance of some things over others, should you feel trepidation or euphoria when given a reprieve?
In closing, I would like to say that Caldwell did an outstanding job of humanizing the suffering of the victim but also of those that were engaged with the victim. He briefly brought up politics, which I thought was unnecessary. If nothing else, in this climate of a COVID 19 pandemic, the President’s monumental effort to find therapeutics and vaccines should be appreciated by all, and the Republicans should not be denigrated by the author, since even with the effort of many Presidents and researchers combined, it took years to find therapeutics for AIDs, and although so many years have passed, the disease still has no vaccine. Raw religion is injected into the narrative and the reader must analyze why. The writing style of the author is simple and easy to follow, yet it is very eloquent and the picture painted, while dark, is illuminating. So many philosophical questions are raised by this author who is surely, at the age of 92, facing death himself. Coincidentally, he put the ending of the time frame of the book in 1992!
On a cold winter’s day, the life of Dempsey Coates is changed forever because of a chance meeting. On her way to her artist’s lair, she notices a group of exhausted firemen trying to get into one of the buildings in order to briefly warm up. No one is opening a door to them. They were granted a brief break from the fire fighting and they longed to sit down in a warm lobby to rest. Moved by the sight of their weary, frozen faces, Dempsey invites them in and serves them some hot coffee.
Johnny Donegan is one of the firefighters. He becomes smitten with her. Soon, they are in an active love affair. Dempsey, though, grows tired of the relationship and wants to moves on. Unfortunately, she also moves into the world of drugs. When she discovers she is pregnant, she beats the drug habit, but her pregnancy has a tragic end when she discovers that she has AIDS.
Dempsey begins the cocktail of drugs, the therapeutics that have been discovered to keep victims alive. After more than a decade passes, Dempsey and Johnny suddenly meet again. He volunteers to model for a painting she is doing. The painting is going to memorialize a friend who has died from AIDS, and she tells Johnny that she, too, has the dread disease. He doesn’t seem to mind. Totally smitten with her, he takes care of her every need and they are once again lovers. (Here, the reader who remembers the early days of AIDS, will have to suspend disbelief. Relationships were more feared than sought after, because the fear of catching AIDS was considered a death sentence).
Johnny, a devout Catholic, manages to find a priest who is willing to allow them to marry, even though the marriage cannot be properly consummated in the eyes of the Church. The Church forbade the use of condoms and forbade the marriage, but Johnny wants only to care for the woman who is the love of his life. When Dempsey’s doctor tells her some surprising, unexpected news, she descends into a somber and introspective mood. She begins to question everything, her relationship with Johnny, the idea of miracles, and the meaning of life and death. She is filled with doubt and guilt. Her doctor had asked if someone had prayed for her. Why? Although her future with Johnny is waiting, she no longer knows if that marriage will take place.
The author has captured the character’s dilemma well, from the first moment of her diagnosis, to the last when she struggles to understand the meaning of what has happened to her. After living with fear and dread, after one has prepared for the end, how does one proceed if the danger disappears? Why do some live while others die? Why do some suffer more than others. Do we understand survivor’s guilt? After preparing for the difficult task of facing death with courage, can one simply turn around and face the unpredictable future of a long life? Is one grateful or resentful?
The book puts a gentler hand on the subject of AIDS, on facing life and death, and reveals the emotional and mental strain that accompanies the decay of the body and mind from the disease. Faith in G-d and religious dogma are questioned often. Relationships are judged as the value of life is questioned. The early 90’s were still backward. Hospital rules were archaic. Same sex couples could not comfort each other because they were not related. The Church did not recognize marriages that could not be properly consummated. Certain relationships were considered unholy and abnormal, or as illnesses. Drug use became more widespread. In that time frame, were Johnny and Dempsey involved in a dance of death of which each was unaware? When you know you have limited time, do your actions take on different meaning, are some meaningless?
One of my friends faced his end with courage, but his bisexual partner faced it with denial and refused all help with experimental drugs in the event she would test positive. She refused to be tested. When Dempsey wasted the cocktail of drugs, I was disturbed. There were no therapeutics for my friend. Surely, when they were available, wasting them would be a sin.
Was this story a parody of the parable of Lazarus, the rich man vs. the poor one? Who was the rich one? Who was the poor one? Would both suffer equally? I deeply respect my friends who have faced untimely ends with courage and dignity. What should I think of Dempsey’s reaction to the gift of life which was the antithesis of her reaction to the sentence of death? After preparing for one’s death, realizing the importance of some things over others, should you feel trepidation or euphoria when given a reprieve?
In closing, I would like to say that Caldwell did an outstanding job of humanizing the suffering of the victim but also of those that were engaged with the victim. He briefly brought up politics, which I thought was unnecessary. If nothing else, in this climate of a COVID 19 pandemic, the President’s monumental effort to find therapeutics and vaccines should be appreciated by all, and the Republicans should not be denigrated by the author, since even with the effort of many Presidents and researchers combined, it took years to find therapeutics for AIDs, and although so many years have passed, the disease still has no vaccine. Raw religion is injected into the narrative and the reader must analyze why. The writing style of the author is simple and easy to follow, yet it is very eloquent and the picture painted, while dark, is illuminating. So many philosophical questions are raised by this author who is surely, at the age of 92, facing death himself. Coincidentally, he put the ending of the time frame of the book in 1992!
December 14, 2020
In 1992 New York City, Dempsey Coates offered firemen a place to stay as they battled a blazing fire on a cold winter night. Johnny Donegan fell in love with her and is determined to make a life together with her despite her HIV positive status. The unexpected good luck that might make it possible comes between them in a very tragic way.
Joseph Caldwell is 92, and an acclaimed playwright and novelist that lives in New York City. There's definitely a lived-in sense for the locations within the city, so that we're walking along with Dempsey and Johnny, and we feel the cold or the sun or the distances as they walk in the neighborhoods. Their struggles feel real, as they're everyday people living in a city known to be expensive in monetary cost as well as spiritual.
Big cities can feel isolating so that even though there are millions of people, it's still hard to make a connection or feel a sense of worth. Dempsey at first defines herself by her illness, knowing she's dying and she has only herself to blame. She fell into drugs and let random people use her sexually while high, lost her baby at six months old, and carries her guilt like a shield even though the pregnancy caused her to quit cold turkey. Johnny loved her anyway and cared for her at her worst. None of her past mattered, and he was willing to fight the Catholic Church to get a consecrated marriage with her as proof of his love.
I don't want to give away the good luck or the ending, which is definitely tragic. I understand Dempsey's reaction to the miracle that fell in her lap: "Why me? Why am I worthy and not all these others?" Guilt still surrounds her and still prevents her from truly connecting with others. Johnny would do anything to be with her and to give his life meaning in context to hers. I'm reminded most of The Gift of the Magi, and the ending is more bitter than sweet. I'm not sure I like this story, because despite knowing there is a tragedy, I was still hoping for something different to happen. There were plenty of tragedies in the AIDS epidemic of the '90s, and this is one of them.
Joseph Caldwell is 92, and an acclaimed playwright and novelist that lives in New York City. There's definitely a lived-in sense for the locations within the city, so that we're walking along with Dempsey and Johnny, and we feel the cold or the sun or the distances as they walk in the neighborhoods. Their struggles feel real, as they're everyday people living in a city known to be expensive in monetary cost as well as spiritual.
Big cities can feel isolating so that even though there are millions of people, it's still hard to make a connection or feel a sense of worth. Dempsey at first defines herself by her illness, knowing she's dying and she has only herself to blame. She fell into drugs and let random people use her sexually while high, lost her baby at six months old, and carries her guilt like a shield even though the pregnancy caused her to quit cold turkey. Johnny loved her anyway and cared for her at her worst. None of her past mattered, and he was willing to fight the Catholic Church to get a consecrated marriage with her as proof of his love.
I don't want to give away the good luck or the ending, which is definitely tragic. I understand Dempsey's reaction to the miracle that fell in her lap: "Why me? Why am I worthy and not all these others?" Guilt still surrounds her and still prevents her from truly connecting with others. Johnny would do anything to be with her and to give his life meaning in context to hers. I'm reminded most of The Gift of the Magi, and the ending is more bitter than sweet. I'm not sure I like this story, because despite knowing there is a tragedy, I was still hoping for something different to happen. There were plenty of tragedies in the AIDS epidemic of the '90s, and this is one of them.
November 19, 2020
This fine example of City Fiction, Lazarus Rising, takes us back to a time that was even more horrible and devastating than our current 2020 crisis. The year is 1992, and the scythe of incurable AIDS is mowing down its victims with 100% precision. Artist Dempsey Coates meets New York City firefighter Johnny Donegan. They fall in love. She has AIDS and is succumbing to its lethal power.
In parallel with her own life, Dempsey is struggling to complete her oil paint series of the story of Lazarus in the Bible. In the final picture in the series, Dempsey is struggling to create the resurrection of Lazarus. Was he happy to be brought back into the world? Or did he fight the light that made him return? What happens when Dempsey is faced with a similar dilemma?
This is a well written literary fiction book that features symbolism such as ‘chiaroscuro’. Lazarus Rising is like caviar, you must savor it slowly and enjoy its uniqueness. It’s not chips and salsa. I recommend it to readers who enjoy fine writing, a book that looks in depth at how we express our humanity and how we relate to God. The author is the Rome Prize winning Joseph Caldwell, 92 years old.
Many thanks to Delphinium Books and Meryl Moss Media for a hardback copy of this book. This is my honest review.
In parallel with her own life, Dempsey is struggling to complete her oil paint series of the story of Lazarus in the Bible. In the final picture in the series, Dempsey is struggling to create the resurrection of Lazarus. Was he happy to be brought back into the world? Or did he fight the light that made him return? What happens when Dempsey is faced with a similar dilemma?
This is a well written literary fiction book that features symbolism such as ‘chiaroscuro’. Lazarus Rising is like caviar, you must savor it slowly and enjoy its uniqueness. It’s not chips and salsa. I recommend it to readers who enjoy fine writing, a book that looks in depth at how we express our humanity and how we relate to God. The author is the Rome Prize winning Joseph Caldwell, 92 years old.
Many thanks to Delphinium Books and Meryl Moss Media for a hardback copy of this book. This is my honest review.
March 1, 2021
A compelling and sad book about a heroic fireman and the woman he loves, an artist who contracted AIDS when she inherits enough money to start a serious drug addiction. When she gets pregnant, she manages to quit her habit for the sake of the baby, who dies because of her AIDS infection. After struggling as an artist and as a victim of the epidemic, she (Dempsey) lets the fireman love her, with many unexpected consequences. Very sad ones. She seems to have a serious case of survivor’s guilt when her sickness mysteriously goes away, which ruins her thinking and ability to live out her life without the specter of death which she has become used to. Tragic ending to her story and his.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 2, 2020
This novel takes the reader back to the time when AIDS was incurable. The main character being a straight woman was a nice change, as most novels focus on gay men that have the disease. I like that the author reminded readers that all people were capable of getting this disease, not just gay men. By capturing the journey of Dempsey and how she got the disease via drug use and the effects that the disease had on her life and future reunion with her former lover. I thought the author took a sensitive topic and handled it extremely well.
Read
December 2, 2020Caldwell gives readers a realistic glimpse into the tragedy of the AIDS epidemic and the devastation left in its wake. Writing New York City into the story as an integral character — from the Staten Island Ferry and Battery Park to Tribeca and the soup kitchen at St. Patrick’s Cathedral — he allows us to feel intimately connected to not only its beauty and charm but its parallel grit and ruthlessness.
Read our full review here:
https://booktrib.com/2020/12/01/josep...
Read our full review here:
https://booktrib.com/2020/12/01/josep...
December 28, 2020
While the subject matter is engaging and the narrative compelling, the interaction between book characters does not feel real. Maybe it isn't supposed to feel real - a transitory feeling conveyed through all the things that drives this story: pain, fear, loneliness, love. To me, however, the banter between man and woman did not make me feel much of anything - it's not believable to me. I do pay respect for the story is not bad - it just didn't feel like how people really interact.
September 21, 2020
Read if you: Want a harrowing read set during the AIDS epidemic.
Librarians/booksellers: This has one of the most honest and affecting descriptions of the impact and toll of AIDS on a person's body. The ending was a bit bewildering (will need to go back and reread it).
Many thanks to Delphinium and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Librarians/booksellers: This has one of the most honest and affecting descriptions of the impact and toll of AIDS on a person's body. The ending was a bit bewildering (will need to go back and reread it).
Many thanks to Delphinium and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.
June 14, 2021
A fine enough story. I'm glad I finished it because there was a short story-worthy twist at the end that I didn't see coming. I'm not surprised I didn't see Dempsey's suicide coming since I don't comprehend the mental state that prefers death over life. Even Johnny seems to have attempted suicide, although his actions are more of a long-term investment of trying to contract HIV. He couched his actions as trying to rescue the drug addicts in the Lunch Room, but really he was trying to give Dempsey a reason to take him back. Their relationship was built around sickness and approaching death. Dempsey couldn't handle a long-term relationship. At some level, Johnny thought that if he had AIDS, it would fix their relationship.
The book was an interesting look into the AIDS epidemic in NYC. Dempsey was able to recognize others in the late stages of AIDS all around her in the streets. There was also a discussion of how the Catholic church responded to the crisis. I am hard pressed to understand the rationale of denying marriage because one member in a relationship doesn't want to catch a terminal disease. Dempsey's cure was seen as a miracle, and she couldn't handle that fact.
The book was an interesting look into the AIDS epidemic in NYC. Dempsey was able to recognize others in the late stages of AIDS all around her in the streets. There was also a discussion of how the Catholic church responded to the crisis. I am hard pressed to understand the rationale of denying marriage because one member in a relationship doesn't want to catch a terminal disease. Dempsey's cure was seen as a miracle, and she couldn't handle that fact.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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