There are two "losses" here: the author's loss of his first love, a kind man named James, to impulsive infidelity (the author's); and the world's loss, that of author Michael Grumley, to AIDS, ten years ago. This autobiographical novel is many things: well-written, simply told, generous to his quite wonderful family and the place he grew up in. It's also heartbreaking because the reader knows from the outset that Grumley has died of AIDS; the introduction is a beautiful one, a eulogy really, by Edmund White. A good book for gay teenagers -- the observant and comforting portrayal of childhood, adolescence, and (blissfuly untormented) emerging sexuality amidst the comfort of a good family is refreshing and heart-warming. The descriptions of nature, people, and New Orleans are precise and seem effortlessly well-wrought. The requisite trip to early- 1960's California is (sanely) made brief, and Grumley returns home to Iowa none the worse for wear -- and ready to take on his future. I really liked this man and the story he tells, and it breaks my heart to know that's he's gone.

Being true to yourself is almost impossible without being true to others. This is one lesson the hero of "Life Drawing" almost learns. At its heart, this book is about relationships. Mickey is looking for a place to fit in. He loses his chance with James because he is blind to the fact that his place is already secure. As the innocence of Youth drowns in possibilities, this journey of discovery stretches down to New Orleans and extends to the West Coast. The journey is a

reflection of the one we all must take and the opportunities we recognize or ignore.