Sweetheart

by Peter McGehee, Raymond-Jean Frontain (Foreword by), Fiji Robinson (Introduction)

Overview

Boys Like Us Trilogy, Book 2 - In Peter McGehee's debut novel, Boys Like Us, reviewers noted his lean, mostly-in-dialogue, fast-paced comedy of manners with an arresting theme ("I lose people ..."), fascinating contemporary urban folklore, and a superbly funny airplane scene. In Sweetheart, Zero MacNoo is back in hilarious new situations, adding a dreamboat lover, a precocious child crooner, a first-cousin-first-love porn star, and some lesbian garage mechanics ... as the AIDS plague continues to descend.

Two wildly divergent worlds - Zero's fiercely eccentric Southern family in Arkansas and the sophisticated urban gay community of Toronto, where he lives now - collide. His cousin Trebreh, the porn star, parks his teenaged daughter with Zero, complicating an already complex life as he tries to balance a budding romance, AIDS activism, and family responsibilities.

Though Sweetheart is a novel about AIDS survival, McGehee carries off this grim topic with wry wit and warmth. It was published posthumously. This new edition is accompanied by introductions from Dr Raymond-Jean Frontain and long-time collaborator Fiji Robinson.

"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

"An utterly delightful book. I enjoyed every word of it!" - Quentin Crisp

"Accomplishes what may seem impossible: a humorous romp in the face of widespread death." - Library Journal

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781951092740
Publisher:	Requeered Tales
Publication date:	09/20/2022
Series:	Boys Like Us Trilogy , #2
Pages:	266
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Peter McGehee (1955-1991) was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and grew up in Little Rock. He studied at Southern Methodist University in Dallas before moving to San Francisco to work in theatre. While living in San Francisco, he wrote his first play and first comedic musical revue The Quinlan Sisters, and later met Canadian activist Doug Wilson, who became his life-partner.He moved to Saskatoon, Canada, in 1980 to be with Wilson, and subsequently the couple moved to Toronto in 1982. Facing potential deportation because of his citizenship status, McGehee briefly moved to New York in 1984, returning to Toronto by 1986. He published his first novella, Beyond Happiness, in 1985, and premiered his second revue, The Fabulous Sirs, in 1987. In 1988, McGehee and Wilson were both diagnosed HIV-positive.McGehee also wrote two novels, Boys Like Us and Sweetheart, and a book of short stories, The I.Q. Zoo. Boys Like Us was published in 1991, shortly before McGehee's death of AIDS-related causes; Sweetheart and The I.Q. Zoo were published posthumously. The novels focused on the life of Zero MacNoo, a character who much like McGehee himself was an American living in Toronto, and his family and circle of friends. Inspired by brief notes that McGehee had written in preparation for his third novel, Wilson subsequently wrote Labour of Love before his own death in 1992.

Raymond-Jean Frontain is an independent scholar who has published eight books and over 100 scholarly articles on the Bible as literature, gay literature, Renaissance poetry, the Indian novel, and modern drama. He recently retired as Professor of English and Director, Humanities and World Cultures Institute, University of Central Arkansas.

Fiji Robinson has a rich background in performance, film production and communications. She first sang and toured with Peter McGehee in his a cappella trio The Quinlan Sisters, a musical revue of social, political, and sexual satire. They later reunited for McGehee's a cappella duo The Fabulous Sirs. Fiji currently resides in Saskatoon.

What People are Saying About This

Helen Eisenbach

Peter McGehee has the right touch. It surprises how well McGehee uses the ordinary details of our lives to evoke the demons we all struggle with: sex and love, friendship and family, life and death.

Editorial Reviews

Full of tangy dialogue and wacky situations.

BookList