Paul Monette

The author tells of the love and passionate struggle that he and longtime companion Roger Horwitz shared as Roger, a victim of AIDS, deteriorated, and the two men exhausted every avenue of medical help to prolong and improve his life

An AIDS Memoir

Borrowed Time

A child of the 1950s from a small New England town, "perfect Paul" earns straight A's and shines in social and literary pursuits, all the while keeping a secret -- from himself and the rest of the world. Struggling to be, or at least to imitate, a straight man, through Ivy League halls of privilege and bohemian travels abroad, loveless intimacy and unrequited passion, Paul Monette was haunted, and finally saved, by a dream of "the thing I'd never even seen: two men in love and laughing." Searingly honest, witty, and humane, Becoming a Man is the definitive coming-out story in the classic coming-of-age genre.

Half a Life Story

Becoming a Man

An eighteen-poem cycle on the death of his lover from AIDS emphasizes the power of love and its survival through pain and anger, and the tragedy and magnitude of a terrifying twist of fate and its effect on a generation.

Eighteen Elegies for Rog

Love Alone

Three men, Steven, Dell, and Sonny, who lose their lovers to AIDS, create a kind of "mourners' club," where they share their pain, survival, love and unexpected joy. Reprint.

Afterlife

Die Geschichte eines halben Lebens

Coming Out

A strange urge drives Dr. Iris Ammons to leave her home and travel to a small California town, where she comes under the influence of a weird evil power

Lightfall

Gambler Jack Weil, in Cuba just before the triumph of the revolution, falls in love with Roberta Duran, the wife of one of Castro's lieutenants

Havana

Essays Too Personal and Otherwise

Last Watch of the Night

Two novels and two collections of poetry, all powerful reflections on the AIDS experience, from the National Book Award–winning author of Becoming a Man. Afterlife: Three men bond after their lovers die of AIDS, all within a week of one another in the same Los Angeles hospital. Each of the men react differently to the situation he’s in, but no matter the path each takes, they are all searching for a way to live and love again. Halfway Home: After being diagnosed with AIDS, Tom moves to a California beach house to live out the rest of his life in peace. But the unexpected reappearance of his troubled brother quickly changes everything in this novel about anger, reconciliation, love, and danger. Love Alone: Following his partner Roger Horwitz’s death from AIDS in 1986, Paul Monette threw himself into these elegies. Writing them, he says, “quite literally kept me alive.” Both beautifully written and deeply affecting, every poem is full of resentment, sorrow, tenderness, and a palpable sense of grief—but also love. West of Yesterday, East of Summer: This stunning career-spanning collection includes Monette’s early work as well as the beautiful and wrenching poems borne out of immense loss. Written with characteristic wit, these poems deftly traverse humor, rage, love, and mourning.

Afterlife; Halfway Home; Love Alone; and West of Yesterday, East of Summer

Selected Works

Now that Mrs. Carroll has died, the race for control of her elegant home has begun It is incredible how the death of a loved one can bring people together. Especially when greedy developers waste no time in attempting to steal the Cape Cod estate of the person in question. Before she could add a stipulation to her will requiring that the house not be bought up and razed for development, Mrs. Carroll tragically passed away. Now, it is up to her lover, Phidias, and her houseboy, David, to take care of the place once again. However, they cannot do it alone. They will need the help of people ranging from David’s ex-boyfriend Rick to a kitschy former screen goddess. Written not long after Paul Monette moved to Los Angeles, his first novel is a madcap caper featuring a cast of characters willing to do anything to fulfill a dying woman’s final wish—even if that means impersonating her while hiding her dead body from the nosy lawyers scouring her estate. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Paul Monette including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the Paul Monette papers of the UCLA Library Special Collections.

A Novel

Taking Care of Mrs. Carroll

An enthralling collection of poetry from National Book Award winner Paul Monette “Come, / what can the body do but go on, when / the best of us are eaten from within?” writes Paul Monette in the titular poem. This mixture of doom and determinedness is played out with humor and warmth in Monette’s poetry. In this quicksilver collection, his words are in perpetual motion, traveling from the Parthenon to Ohio and everywhere in between. Meditating frequently on sex, nostalgia, and love, these poems are serious without ever becoming humorless. They include charming and funny monologues from Isadora Duncan and Noël Coward. Accompanied by original artwork by David Schorr, No Witnesses is an absorbing book of poetry from an acclaimed author. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Paul Monette including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the Paul Monette papers of the UCLA Library Special Collections.

Poems

No Witnesses

Paul Monette’s fierce and arresting collection of poems on the death of his partner from AIDS Following his partner Roger Horwitz’s death from AIDS in 1986, Paul Monette threw himself into these elegies. Writing them, he says, “quite literally kept me alive.” Both beautifully written and deeply affecting, every poem is full of anger, sorrow, tenderness, and a palpable sense of grief. With graceful language and emotional acuity, Paul Monette captures the enormity of a loss that ravaged a generation. But even more than they are about tragedy, these poems are about love. Each moving line is full of love for one who is no longer there, but whose presence is still achingly felt at every turn. Love Alone is remarkable for its honesty, its passion, and its depth. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Paul Monette including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the Paul Monette papers of the UCLA Library Special Collections.

Paul Monette’s uproarious, sexy novel takes us deep into the glamorous world of vintage Los Angeles Perched on top of a hill in the oldest part of Bel Air, Crook House is the grand mansion that gilded Hollywood dreams are made of. It seemed like the perfect place for the exhausted and neurotic Rita to take time away from her life and catch up with her old friend Peter and his lover, Nick. What she didn’t count on was her friends’ emotional baggage, not to mention the suspicious tales of a buried treasure underneath the house. This second novel from Paul Monette puts a tender focus on the ways in which money and time can distort relationships, while also demonstrating how the ties between friends can endure—and even grow stronger—no matter what the distance or history. As Rita, Nick, and Peter get closer to unraveling the mystery buried underneath Crook House, they begin to learn that what they are searching for could be the key to their very survival. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Paul Monette including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the Paul Monette papers of the UCLA Library Special Collections.

The Gold Diggers

Tom tried everything to get away from the world—but it had a way of getting back to him When Tom was diagnosed with AIDS, he thought of it as a death sentence. His life was effectively over. He packed up everything and moved to a beach house in California. There, he could live out what remained of his life in peace. His landlord was kind, understanding—and interested in him romantically. Tom had found the safe haven he sought. That is, until his brother, Brian, reappeared in his life. Brian’s shady business connections back home have him and his family on the run. With him are his homophobic wife, Susan, and his son, Daniel, who has never met his uncle. Thrown into an explosive situation, Tom and his family struggle to become closer. But when Brian’s dirty dealings follow him to California and threaten the lives of the entire family, the bond between the two brothers is put to the test. Paul Monette displays a keen awareness of family dynamics as he explores coming out, life-threatening illness, and the lifelong consequences of brotherly conflicts. Halfway Home is a novel about anger and reconciliation, love and danger. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Paul Monette including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the Paul Monette papers of the UCLA Library Special Collections.

Halfway Home

Predator

El Último verano

An unlikely pair races to find a murderer in the hazy underbelly of Los Angeles Vivien Cokes and her husband, Jasper, are LA royalty, and they have the lifestyle to prove it. Big parties, a huge mansion in Malibu, and complicated affairs are all part of the package. However, during a morning swim, Vivien makes a discovery that changes her life forever. Smelling smoke, she sees her home in flames, and inside, she finds her husband dead in the hot tub with his male lover in an apparent double suicide. To find out the truth behind her husband’s death, Vivien must turn to the unlikeliest of sources: a failed writer and grifter who was the boyfriend of her husband’s late lover. After finding kinship in a sort of shared widowhood, the two set out to bring to justice the people behind their loved ones’ deaths. Paul Monette has a poet’s touch, and his aptitude is on full display in The Long Shot as he immerses readers in a mystery with a cast of characters that is as diverse and memorable as the city in which they live. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Paul Monette including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the Paul Monette papers of the UCLA Library Special Collections.

The Long Shot

When Jasper Cokes, a film star, and Harry Dawes die in what appears to be a double suicide, Greg, a screenwriter, suspects murder.

Tender and passionate autobiographical essays by the National Book Award–winning author of Becoming a Man. “Does it go too fast?” Monette asks about life at the beginning of one piece. The answer is a resounding “yes” for the individuals who populate this stunning work of nonfiction. These ten autobiographical essays memorialize those whose lives have been claimed by AIDS. Following Becoming a Man and Borrowed Time, Last Watch of the Night is Monette’s third and final self-portrait. In this collection, he confronts death—those of lovers and friends, and even his own eventual demise—with both bravery and compassion. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Paul Monette including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the Paul Monette papers of the UCLA Library Special Collections.

Paul Monette

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