It's 1985, and Boystown, Chicago, is a playground for the gay community, with its nightclubs, dive joints, and leather-clad bartenders—though now the euphoria is tempered by terror. Yale Tishman is among those who look on helplessly as close friends succumb to AIDS, and when Yale's partner, too, becomes infected, his world collapses. Makkai's third novel, a devastating contemplation of love and loss, evokes the epidemic's horrors, yes, but also the profound acts of generosity it sparked.
— Claire Luchette
