Heaven's Coast

In a weird bit of synchronicity, I finished Heaven's Coast by Mark Doty the same day I saw The Hours. The synchronicity comes into play because both feature men dying of AIDS. The Hours character is a poet, played by Ed Harris. Heaven's Coast is written by the poet Mark Doty about his lover, Wally.

It's a book about grief. It's beautiful, really, Doty has a wonderful way with words (his poetry collection Atlantis is one of my favorites) and manages to bring gorgeousness to sadness and bewilderment. That said, it's a difficult book to get through, because it's relentless in its subject matter. I haven't decided what book I'll read next, but I'm committed to picking something a bit more lighthearted. I don't tend to keep a lot of lighthearted books in my queue, though, so it may be a challenge.