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percy_roy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.75
cristina_isabel's review against another edition
1.0
I was really excited for this - it sounded so promising and interesting but,
what the hell was that writing? It felt like reading a person's text draft where they try to be at their most pretentious. It reads like a narcissist's diary that find himself to be the only interesting topic on earth.
I also didn't like how the essays were messily organised and didn't connect whatsoever (except for a super large theme).
what the hell was that writing? It felt like reading a person's text draft where they try to be at their most pretentious. It reads like a narcissist's diary that find himself to be the only interesting topic on earth.
I also didn't like how the essays were messily organised and didn't connect whatsoever (except for a super large theme).
mattbuechner's review against another edition
4.0
Required reading for gay Millennials, as we stand on the shoulders of giants.
mkcd's review against another edition
2.0
Maybe deserves a half-more star. The subject matter is certainly important, and there are incandescently bright spots in the writing that are truly evocative, provoking, arousing, and fascinating all in turn.
However, there is no connective tissue, even within single essays, sometimes. It feels a bit like being thrown about in a thematic ocean with a writer who is a bit too self-satisfied.
However, there is no connective tissue, even within single essays, sometimes. It feels a bit like being thrown about in a thematic ocean with a writer who is a bit too self-satisfied.
manwithanagenda's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
slow-paced
2.0
This started with a tremendous monologue of Peck detailing his relationships that conjured up fond memories of the disaffected literature of the 1980s (I'm beginning to see why irony is ruining culture, but I have no regrets), but the feeling faded as the book went on and I realized that voice wasn't coming back.
Peck examines the AIDS epidemic as he experienced it and shares a few stories of the experiences of others. 'Visions and Revisions' is a series of essays published at different times and they don't always mesh together and, as a history or even just as a narrative, leave a lot to be desired. Peck acknowledges the difficulty of covering this time and the overwhelming shadow it casts into the present day, but it seems like he could have done a little more to prepare the book for consumption. The stories of his own life, in investigating a serial killer and hate crimes and the post-AIDS reality of bath houses and unprotected sex, make for interesting reading until the self-absorption of it dulls the senses.
The book wasn't what I was expecting, and I'm not sure who the audience is.
Peck examines the AIDS epidemic as he experienced it and shares a few stories of the experiences of others. 'Visions and Revisions' is a series of essays published at different times and they don't always mesh together and, as a history or even just as a narrative, leave a lot to be desired. Peck acknowledges the difficulty of covering this time and the overwhelming shadow it casts into the present day, but it seems like he could have done a little more to prepare the book for consumption. The stories of his own life, in investigating a serial killer and hate crimes and the post-AIDS reality of bath houses and unprotected sex, make for interesting reading until the self-absorption of it dulls the senses.
The book wasn't what I was expecting, and I'm not sure who the audience is.
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