Life is Not a Rehearsal [Hardcover]

David Brudnoy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1996

A popular conservative radio talk-show host in Boston, who created a sensation when he revealed his homosexuality and his infection with HIV, reflects on his life, mortality, friends, family, romance, and politics.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The reader is as relieved as Brudnoy when at last, on page 73, the then-21-year-old, relentlessly randy, homosexual, Yale junior is delivered of his virginity. With awesome self-commemoration and graphic sexuality, this Boston talk-show host lets it all hang out here: his heavy use of psychedelics as a young man; alcohol abuse; "wild sex with improper strangers," which on a couple of occasions turned violent when Brudnoy picked up psychotics; three-month disability and near death caused by AIDS-related ailments in 1994 (in recounting his bout with shingles, he spares us no details of his "filthy bowel explosions"). Brudnoy was 54 years old when he suffered his first HIV attack, which finally caused him to reveal his condition. Although there was great local media frenzy, and he received 17,000 letters from his fans, Brudnoy expresses distaste at becoming an AIDS poster boy. An outspoken political conservative, he is an educated man with two masters degrees and a doctorate in history. He was born in Minneapolis, the only child of a dentist and homemaker mother, and grew up in a large community of relatives who indulged unreservedly "this best little boy in the world." Brudnoy does the same for himself now, which readers may find off-putting, even as they feel sorry for his medical travails.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Brudnoy, a popular radio talk-show host in Boston, tells his tale of being forced out of the closet as a gay man when he was diagnosed with AIDS. His story would not be that extraordinary except that his radio audience was primarily working class and conservative, which does not seem to be an audience particularly receptive to gay men or people with AIDS. Stereotypes aside, he is surprised that his listeners responded with grace and compassion. Brudnoy is a good example of the consequences of the closet, which not only closes off a gay man to a true sense of himself but also disconnects him from much of the reality of human experience. Still, this is a minor work that might have regional interest.?David S. Azzolina, Univ. of Pennsylvania Libs., Philadelphia
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 298 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1st edition (December 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385482760
• ISBN-13: 978-0385482769
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,301,546 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Contradiction in Terns: A Conservative Gay Man / Personality, October 10, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Life is Not a Rehearsal (Hardcover)

David Brudnoy has been a fixture on Boston radio for years. As host of an evening talk show on regional power-house, WBZ Radio, he is the atypical talk-show host. Very opinionated but always polite and respectful to those with whom he disagrees. A libertarian in a town noted for being ulra-liberal. And gay.

Dr. David Brudnoy is an intellectual giant; no one disputes this. His politics run a little to the right of Ronald Reagan, Jesse Helms, and other noted conservatives. When he collapsed and nearly died of complications of AIDS several years ago, it came as a surprise to the public to find out that a man can be both gay and conservative. It seems an oxymoron. The public support for Brudnoy following his near death was gratifying to even the most hardened moralist among us.

Brudnoy documents his life-story in this well-written, often very moving story of his life. He delves often into his life as an intellectual seeking to be "like others". He speaks to his rise to national media prominence and to the values of integrity and humbleness he maintained during that rise. And he speaks often of that subject that he kept to himself all of his life: his sexual orientation.

If I were to object to the book, it would be that he belabors the point of his being gay. He does not delve in the graphic details of his sex-life for that is none of anybody's business. And, I suppose one can forgive the focus on his being gay and the problems that (in his perception) it created for him since the motivation for the book seems to be a knee-jerk reaction to the outpouring of good will following his collapse. Still, maybe it is I who miss the point. Maybe where I see him concentrating too much on his being gay, to Brudnoy that *is* what has defined his life.

This is not a book about being gay. It is a book about how being gay has impacted his life. It is also the life story of a very impressive and likable man to whom life has been both good and bad. I wish Dr. Brudnoy the very best and thank him for sharing his life. I am beter off for it.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AWESOME, January 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Life Is Not a Rehearsal: A Memoir (Paperback)

Brudnoy does an FABULOUS job dealing with a touchy subject. Other have said it is "disjointed," but that is Brudnoy's style. 5-stars, David!

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, October 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Life Is Not a Rehearsal: A Memoir (Paperback)

Brudnoy has done a great job with telling it "like it is"