Title: Your Nostalgia is Killing Me*
Author: John Weir
Rating: 4.25 stars / 5 stars
Favorite Quote: “His body had nothing to do with him. His funeral service had nothing to do with anyone who cared for him. It was an appalling farce.” Weir, John. Your Nostalgia is Killing Me. E-book ed., Red Hen Press, 2022.
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Review: Thank you to the publisher, Red Hen Press, and the Edelweiss platform for the free e-ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.
I finished this book a while ago, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. I’m not a big short story gal, but this collection had me hooked from start to finish.
So let’s start with what was working with the collection (spoiler: almost everything). This collection spans decades, from the start of the AIDS epidemic to modern times, and thematically, the stories never fail to hide from or shield the reader from the devastation that AIDS had and continues to have, especially for gay men in New York at the height of the government’s negligence and malice. The author captures the sense of loss and devastation, but also forces readers to grapple with the physical toll - the often gross bodily decay that happens as the dead are dying, and the life the survivors were forced to cope with as they watched their loved ones die. The author of this collection captures it all, reminding readers that the shadow of this American tragedy is still cast over the country.
Perhaps related to the author’s ability to effectively capture the devastation of the AIDS epidemic is the author’s use of foreshadowing and his ability to manipulate time in his narrative. One of the most telling examples of this exists within one of the stories that most graphically confronts AIDS and its effects. In describing a man dying of AIDS, the story reads, “A week later, Dave’s Chelsea living room is packed with queers and a few straight women, ten days before he dies.” Weir, John. Your Nostalgia is Killing Me. E-book ed., Red Hen Press, 2022.
My only criticism is that a few of the stories, one in particular, dragged longer than seemed necessary. Reading “American Graffiti” was really the only time that my reading experience was disrupted because I kept having to put it down and pick it back up again. Other than that, these stories were lyrical, engrossing, and many interacted with others throughout the collection so that old characters never seemed to disappear completely, always peeking back at the most delightful times.
About that Quote: Since starting these reviews, I’ve always picked a favorite quote to discuss. Choosing a single favorite quote from this book was perhaps the most challenging time I’ve had since starting this blog. Other contenders were:
“I’m Norman Mailer: mention sex, I’m instantly thinking of death. Or I’m a gay man who las lived in New York for twenty0one years - for these particular twenty-one years - and everything reminds me of death.” Weir, John. Your Nostalgia is Killing Me. E-book ed., Red Hen Press, 2022.
“He was a man who happened in a minute, and explaining him would take all day.” Weir, John. Your Nostalgia is Killing Me. E-book ed., Red Hen Press, 2022.
“Oh there’s nothing as sweet as self-loathing, nothing as constant and sustaining. It’s exhilarating to be the subject of all that scrutiny. To take everything into account: your body, your actions, your taste in furniture and friends, the embarrassing noises you make when you come. Finally, you’re central, essential to someone, if only your rejected self.” Weir, John. Your Nostalgia is Killing Me. E-book ed., Red Hen Press, 2022.
“Is there a difference between apology and oral sex? I became a connoisseur of mournful hand jobs.” Weir, John. Your Nostalgia is Killing Me. E-book ed., Red Hen Press, 2022.
But this quote - the one I’ve selected despite the challenge I faced doing so - stood out because of how effectively the author utilized figurative language to evoke emotion - specifically anger and devastation.
TW for Your Nostalgia is Killing Me: death, AIDS, graphic descriptions of bodily functions, homophobia
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