Eighty-Sixed (Contemporary Amer Fiction) [Paperback]

David B. Feinberg (Author)

Book Description

Series: Contemporary Amer Fiction | Publication Date: January 1, 1990

This is the story of two years in the life of B.J. Rosenthal: pre-AIDS 1980, when his only mission is to find himself a boyfriend; and in 1986, when a deadly virus pervades his world and attacks his friends and ex-tricks. Combing high-wire wit with genuine emotional resonance, "Eighty-Sixed" explores the pressing matters of life in contemporary America: maintaining a long-term relationship with a person of suitable gender and appropriate species; staying cool in the face of bad haircuts, appalling sex, and mortal illness; and other issues like life, death, truth, despair, therapy, sex, God, more sex, Jewish guilt, abstinance, phone calls in the middle of the night, safe sex, alchoholics, the meaning of life, and AIDS. Shockingly frank, bitingly satirical, and ultimately moving, "Eighty-Sixed" is a classic in the literature of AIDS.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This first novel records the changes in gay lifestyles precipitated by the AIDS epidemic. g "Diary-like monthly reports describe the narrator's romantic and sexual experiences with bracing immediacy, but finally the novel reads less like fully imagined fiction than a heavily detailed but uninspired newspaper account," said PW.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In this witty first novel, Feinberg contrasts pre-AIDS 1980 with post-AIDS 1986, illuminating the changes that have come about in the gay community. In 1980, B.J. Rosenthal's biggest concern is finding a steady boyfriend, as he goes from one sex partner to another, but in 1986 his attention is focused on AIDS anxiety and the painful death of friends. Unlike the recent spate of somber novels dealing with AIDS, Feinberg's work mixes generous doses of humor with an increasing sense of pathos, bringing to mind the plays of Harvey Fierstein. To evoke the mood of each year, Feinberg injects a distracting string of pop culture references, but overall, this is an engrossing, honest novel. Highly recommended.James E. Cook, Dayton & Montgomery Cty. P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (January 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140112529
• ISBN-13: 978-0140112528
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,123,200 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I was dating David while he was writing this book..., October 14, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (SFCA via NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eighty-Sixed (Contemporary Amer Fiction) (Paperback)

I read this in print-outs from his PC. I never believed that it would actually get published. But once I finished reading the book, I knew that it should be published. And 12 years later, this book still makes me aware of the emotional pull that he had. He ended life very angry, without much humor; but he lived most of his life finding the humor or irony in many situations. David changed the way I look at many things, especially HIV.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank You, David Feinberg, September 20, 1998

By 

Thomas Gworek ([e-mail]) (Chicago, Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eighty-Sixed (Contemporary Amer Fiction) (Paperback)

I think I've read this book about 6 times now. The most recent after a 3 year absence (still unable to read Feinberg's "Queer And Self-Loathing" because I know it will be his final words.) While turning the pages, there are times I feel a bit childish for laughing at what some might call low-brow humor (i.e.: BJ's sexcapades through NYC), but with each successive laugh there is a glimmer of something in each of our selves that we get in touch with, a hint of joy coupled with a hint of pain. It's what my grandmother calls something lost and something gained. One does not need to have lost someone to AIDS to feel the pain Feinberg wants us to feel for his characters; all that's required is that you be human, to be open to experiencing all of life as it's come to pass. So reading through this book again, I laughed, crying with fits of laughter even though I knew the mood would all change, and it did. It had too. Feinberg's "Eighty Sixed" was the first book to make me cry. I cried not from joy, but from the sheer pain of loss, of frustration and anguish. And as I closed the book, my hands trembling, I reflected on the joys in my life, at how far I've come from the days I thought I would never push the closet door open, and then, just as the second half of the book is titled "Learning to Cry", I put my head onto my pillow and wept. Thank you David Feinberg. In an age of increasing isolation, it's comforting to know a book can still present itself as the best and the worst of each of us -- that a book can let itself be more 'human' than some of the very people standing around us.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving and funny chronicle of the AIDS tragedy, May 18, 2003

By 

David Bonesteel (Fresno, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eighty-Sixed (Paperback)

This novel contrasts the life of BJ Rosenthal, a gay man living in New York City, before and after the advent of the AIDS epidemic. In 1980, his greatest concern is finding a boyfriend and he feels free to indulge his libido in a quest for the perfect man. In 1986, every potential liaison is conducted in the shadow of death as BJ attends the deaths of friends, participates in AIDS marches, and struggles to retain hope in the future. As grim as the subject matter becomes, author David Feinberg never loses his sense of humor. There are brief interludes between each chapter that would make for a fiercely hilarious and moving stage monologue.

Until reading the reviews on this page, I was not aware that David Feinberg himself has now passed away. The world is poorer for the loss of his voice and his sensibility.