'Jagged and tender, forthright and sly, this book felt so committed to its fierce, wise vision of the joys and terrors of having a body and living a life. It tells us real things, in a rich voice, with force and passion and insight. I couldn't put it down.'
-- Ronnie Scott, author of
The Adversary'I couldn't put it down. Jonathan Bazzi's writing is immensely powerful.'
-- Tomasz Jedrowski, author of
Swimming in the Dark'Jonathan Bazzi's Fever promises to shed light on something quite specific, but ends up illuminating infinitely more. Here, in direct and unapologetic prose, brilliantly translated by Alice Whitmore, we are immersed in one man's inner battle to assimilate an HIV diagnosis, yet we are never allowed to lose sight of the wider circumstances that give this battle its distinct emotional configuration: a deprived upbringing, an ill-equipped mother, a neo-fascist father, a suburban wasteland filled with wounded personalities, a precarious livelihood in a modern city, a treacherous online environment, a traumatised queer community, a politically dysfunctional nation. Shifting between anger and rebellion, on the one hand, and tenderness and forgiveness, on the other, Fever grips us first, then terrifies us, then moves us, then urges us, finally, to consider the question, 'Who gets to be well, and why, and how?'
-- Gavin McCrea, author of Cells
'Every generation, we need new voices to tell us our story. In this harsh, lyrical, and supremely confident memoir, Jonathan Bazzi takes us on a personal journey from violence and disadvantage to the sweet power of queer self-discovery. The writing is terrific - and this is a journey we can all learn from.'
-- Neil Bartlett, author of
Ready To Catch Him Should He Fall and
Address Book'Alternating between powerful recollections of Bazzi's early life in suburban Milan and meditations on their HIV diagnosis, Fever is a stark and searing account of class, crisis, and contemporary queer life; a portrait of what the body weathers and what it remembers.'
-- Jack Parlett, author of
Fire Island'Bazzi captures the longing, the wounds, and the joys of growing up queer and working class in 1980s Milan - and what it means to recalibrate your world amid the aftershocks of a life-changing diagnosis. I read it in a single sitting.'
-- Jennifer Down, author of
Bodies of Light