Boys Like Us Trilogy, Book 3
- Sometimes the muse has the last word. Peter McGehee's acclaimed two novels,
Boys Like Us
and
Sweetheart
, introduced us to Zero MacNoo and his wonderfully zany circle of friends, family, lovers, and ex-lovers as they struggle to get through life (and death) in the age of AIDS. Peter McGehee died shortly after finishing the manuscript of
. But Doug Wilson, his long-time lover, companion, editor and, yes, muse, carries on in
Labour of Love
for a final installment of the remarkable trilogy.
is a testimony to living bravely. Wilson uncannily matches much of McGehee's light-hearted, but not shallow, tone and temperament. Though primarily a romantic farce, it is as wise, and a little darker, than the first installments. It covers the adventures of dying lovers, anti-gay-bashing demonstrations in the streets of Toronto, the obnoxious attentions of Zero's Arkansas kinfolk, tumbles in the sack, triumphs of a drag queen in a courtroom, and wild cross-border journeys (such as in a "borrowed" courier van driven by a competent and lusty lesbian pal).
is the title, and the achievement, of Wilson's first and final novel; it, too, was published posthumously. This new edition is accompanied by introductions from Dr Raymond-Jean Frontain and long-time friend and fellow-artist Jeffrey Canton.
"A genuinely delightful gay domestic comedy so full of tangy dialogue and wacky situations that it screams for the stage or, better yet, the screen." -
Booklist
"
is more a testimony to living bravely than a cry of despair. Wilson uncannily matches much of McGehee's light-hearted, but not shallow, tone and temperament." - Stan Persky
"Accomplishes what may seem impossible: a humorous romp in the face of widespread death." -
Library Journal