Last Watch of the Night

by Paul Monette

Hardcover, 1994

Status

Available

Call number

PS3563.O523 L3 1994

Genres

LGBTQ+

Biography & Memoir

Biography

Collection

Dennis R. Neill Equality Center

Publication

Harcourt Brace (1994), Edition: 1st, 309 pages

Description

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.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member whitewavedarling

A collection of essays written by Monette in '92 and '93, Last Watch of the Night chronicles his thoughts on family, spirituality and the church, health and disease, writing, and AIDS, primarily as connected to being gay in America in the 1970s and 1980s. All personal and heavily anecdotal, the

essays veer between being sorrowful, angry, and celebratory, though Monette's sarcastic humor often comes through as well. While a few of the essays come off as being overly self-indulgent, most of them are both thoughtful and entertaining, well worth the time for any interested reader. It's worth noting, also, that readers needn't be familiar with Monette's other works in order to get something out of the collection--most of the references to his own writings are general, his primary focus being on more memoir-and-history based interests.

On the whole, the collection is well worth reading for any interested parties, though perhaps not as historically or personal telling as readers might wish.

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