Acqua Calda: A Novel

by Keith McDermott

Overview

For years Gerald lived for his twin passions, acting and sex. As a handsome young actor, he found plenty of opportunities to perform in both arenas. But that was years ago, long before AIDS hit the theater world hard—and gay circles even harder. No in demand, Gerald is waiting to die. He's drawn up a last will and testament, assigned a health care proxy, arranged his own cremation, has thrown out hundreds of photos accrued over his twenty-five years of acting, along with boxes of gay porn and his journals. Gerald's acquired a hefty collection of barbiturates for when things get too "icky."



Just when things appear the worse, William Weiss calls and Gerald's life is resurrected. An eccentric avant-garde director, Weiss invites Gerald to perform in a play in Sicily. As a founding member of Weiss's first company, Gerald is aware of the director's cult-like hold over actors, but he accepts. From the first rehearsal, Weiss nurtures the chaos in which he is most at home. Gerald's health remains precarious, but as opening night approaches, the play begins to take shape. Gerald's spirits soar as he reconnects with lost joy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786717651
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	04/19/2006
Pages:	315
Product dimensions:	0.74(w) x 5.50(h) x 8.50(d)

About the Author

Keith McDermott is a novelist and actor. His writing has appeared in Fresh Men: New Voices in Gay Fiction, Boys Like Us, and Loss within Loss, as well as in the James White Review. As an actor, Keith has worked on, off, and off-off Broadway, making his Broadway debut opposite Richard Burton in Equus. He has worked with director Robert Wilson in America, Europe, Russia, and Japan. He lives in New York City.

Editorial Reviews

Former actor Gerald is suffering from AIDS and has come close to death, but now he's enjoying a respite from his disease. Having already brought closure to his life, he is uncertain what path to follow now that it suddenly seems he has a future after all. At just the right moment, a prominent director Gerald knows invites him to rejoin an avant-garde theater company working to produce a play in Sicily. Off he goes to begin a month-long sojourn working and living with the troupe. McDermott's first novel is filled with rich detail on the creative process of producing a play and the unique relationships that form when a group comes together for a brief time to work on such a project. Unfortunately, the characters just aren't all that likable, so the reader is hard pressed to care what happens to them. Recommended only for comprehensive gay/lesbian fiction collections or large public libraries.-Caroline Mann, Univ. of Portland Lib., OR Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

An impressive debut about an older gay actor facing mortality. Storywriter McDermott keenly captures Gerald, an actor and self-described "promiscuous romantic," who looks back wryly and regretfully on a life of intermittent success, lots of sex, and no permanent relationships. Now in his mid-40s, Gerald lives in a plain studio apartment near Times Square, blocking the blare of a jukebox from the bar downstairs with a white-noise machine and trading barbs with an obese female friend. A call from eccentric, self-absorbed theater director Bill Weiss breaks Gerald's almost stuporous isolation. Weiss wants Gerald to fly to Sicily to appear in a new play. The actor accepts, even as AIDS steadily weakens his health. He joins the company, skillfully limned by McDermott, and they're off to work on an avant-garde piece that seems poised between innovation and pretense. (Though it's fictional, McDermott's narrative becomes a log that theater students could pore over; McDermott, who appeared in Equus opposite Richard Burton, gets at the concrete detail that makes up an actor's work.) One night after rehearsal, the company goes swimming in a misty, sulfurous pool. During this sensual scene, Gerald feels strong arms embrace him from behind and turns to face a ruggedly handsome Italian actor. Gerald's latent romanticism stirs, but only briefly, and after a furtive encounter, the two move away from a deeper relationship. Gerald's health deteriorates further, and he faints on opening night. The stage manager orders him to his quarters to rest, but he refuses, realizing that theater-its people, words, and passion-propels his life. "Tu me colge en adrore," he prays, quoting a line he speaks in the play:"Take me while I am in ecstasy." A vivid portrait that will make many, gay or straight, feel empathy.

Kirkus Reviews