AEGiS-BKREV: Iron Peter: A Year in the Mythopoetic Life of New York City, a novel

Iron Peter: A Year in the Mythopoetic Life of New York City, a novel

Rubicon Media, PO Box 1823, Radio City Station, New York, NY 10101-1823. 145p. ISBN 0-9663454-0-1. $13.00.
Charles Ortleb. 1998.

Pegged as the "most controversial book of the year" and "terrifying," by the Gannett News Service, Iron Peter will certainly make you sit up and think or make you raging mad that anyone could put into words what Ortleb has done or just be another one of those AIDS novels that one sees more and more of in today's bookstores. Ortleb does not waste any punches about what he thinks about AIDS, those who are positive, those who are trying to find a cure, and the activists who are championing the AIDS cause. He hits you smack in the face and makes you wince and wonder how anyone could write such prose. Then again, one only has to realize that Orleb is a rogue gay publisher who was president of the publishing group that published Christopher Street, Theater Week, and New York Native, all of which are now out of business.

Iron Peter is about a beautiful blonde Adonis who arrives in New York one January and vows to "assassinate the AIDS epidemic." In addition, he vows to never have sex as long as the HIV virus is alive and killing. With this in mind he proceeds to scout the city's gay life, causing such a stir with his beauty, but creating much deep-felt hatred toward him with his caustic remarks. Even though he could be cruel in his response to those who wanted to take him home and to bed, there was humor in some of his remarks. When a macho man whispered in his ear "I want to fuck you with a condom.", he replied "I'd rather vote Republican.", leaving the man in a state of shock. Needless to say, it did not take Peter long to develop a nasty reputation among the AIDS activists.

This is a novel that needs reading, not because it will enlighten you with new facts about AIDS and the HIV virus but because it is a story about AIDS that many people think about but are afraid to voice or put into print. Recommended for academic libraries and large public libraries.

Keywords: Novel)

Copyright (c) 1999 - Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Reviews may be reprinted or redistributed for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or educational advancement granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. For other reprinting, redistribution, or translation, address requests to H. Robert Malinowsky, University of Illinois at Chicago Library, PO Box 8198, Chicago, IL 60680 or electronically to hrm@uic.edu.
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Copyright © 1999 - The University of Illinois at Chicago. All materials in the journal are subject to copyright by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois and may be reprinted or redistributed for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or educational advancement granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. For other reprinting, redistribution, or translation, address requests to H. Robert Malinowsky, University of Illinois at Chicago Library, PO Box 8198, Chicago, IL 60680 or electronically to hrm@uic.edu.

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