The Last Novel

Robin Reardon has been a favorite author of mine for a long time.  I pride myself in having read all of her novels.  Giuseppe and Me is an ebook, which I normally do not read, but had to in order to say I have read all of her writing. I love short stories, especially ones that I can read in one sitting and still have time to contemplate what I read. Alex Lupo is a foster child, living with the Dunlops, coming to terms with being gay and wanting someone to experience life with. Having been raped, he is a little leery about having sex with someone else, especially in the midst of getting tested for HIV twice. He meets Ron, an upper crust full of himself individual and thinks that he wants to experience more with him, until he is pushed too far. Ron seems to want to dominate Alex, both sexually and psychologically as he is wealthy and Alex is poor. Alex dreams of his Italian self and receives the best advice from a guy named Giuseppe: "My life is worth more than a few minutes of anyone's pleasure" which is so true. In the setting of Greenwich Village and Stonewall, this message is very important to all.