Lucky Us

September 3, 2001
An unlikely couple weather a crisis in this forthright novel about love and accommodation. Elisa, a 20-something flighty artist, and Gabe, a bookish, much older former drug dealer and ex-con, meet and fall in love in New York City. Their voices, strong and distinctive, grant immediacy to alternating chapters, in which their future takes an unexpected form. Just before they are to be married, Elisa's discovery that her name is an acronym for the AIDS test she is about to take—enzyme linked immuno-sorbent assay—moves her to laughter. But when she discovers she is HIV positive, she turns against the stable and caring Gabe. PEN/ Hemingway Award winner Silber (for Household Words) is unsparing in her description of what it is like to live with AIDS. "I woke up further and remembered that all the moistures of my body were not simple anymore, that my leaking female self was slick with danger." Deep in denial about her mortality, Elisa betrays Gabe by reigniting an abusive relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Jason, who is also living with AIDS. Her path of self-destruction is grounded in guilt, but it eventually leads to personal growth and acceptance. The sex, drugs and older man/younger woman angle are familiar themes, but Silber's tender tale of how Elisa and Gabe develop a loving, mature relationship is delivered with clear-eyed candor and not a whit of sentimentality. Agent, Geri Thoma.

July 1, 2001
On her day job at a camera store, Elisa, a young art school graduate in New York City, meets an older man named Gabe. Serious and introspective, he's been at the store for many years and spends his leisure time reading Kafka; she's recovering from a somewhat abusive relationship and a drug-and-party lifestyle. Classic girl meets very different boy story, with the sad twist of her discovery of a positive HIV status. What keeps this novel (a follow-up to In My Other Life: Stories) from being either too sad or too maudlin is the edgy cast of the characters and their well-presented perspectives, found in alternating chapters. It's difficult to imagine that such a simple plot could yield such a profound, engaging tale. This was such a good story that I missed it when I finished reading. Recommended for all fiction collections. Ann H. Fisher, Radford P.L., VA

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2001
In a sweet, loopy, mismatched love story nearly derailed by the hard facts of today's sexual reality, twentysomething Elisa, a slightly wild and moderately promiscuous artist, and Gabe, much older, sober, and careful, take turns describing their complicated involvement. Gabe's caution comes from being busted and imprisoned for dealing drugs; Elisa has never been caught at anything. Companionable sex and fun develop into love and plans of marriage, and Elisa, in a moment of whimsy, gets an unnecessary blood test and comes up HIV-positive. He is supportive; she is reckless, resuming sexual relations with the man who infected her. Gabe is " nearly" too good to be tolerated, and Elisa is " nearly" too silly to survive, but they sort things out and ultimately make an unlikely but irresistible couple, thanks to Silber's deft writing and deep affection for her characters. A timely and wonderful tale.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)