Lambda Award-winning historian, novelist and academic Martin Duberman (Midlife Queer) reveals that he's avoided writing about the 12 years covered in The Rest of It in his previous memoirs because "[t]hose were the most painful years of my life." Despite emotional turmoil and debilitating health scares, it was also one of his most productive periods as a writer and pioneering gay activist. The Rest of It is a mesmerizing and fearlessly candid memoir that begins with the death of his mother and a succession of failed romantic relationships. His grief leads to panic attacks, a deepening depression and, finally, a massive heart attack at 49.
Once recovered, Duberman strives to avoid his "deep hermit instincts" by trying to be more social. "Ever steadfast in pursuit of unavailability," he finds it easier to buy companionship at a New York City hustler bar. Cocaine helps reignite his desire to write. His life improves when he begins working on a biography of Paul Robeson. He gets a massive advance paycheck from his publisher, but becomes entangled with Robeson's unstable son who tries to sabotage the project. The chapters on researching Paul Robeson: A Biography are riveting. There's also plenty of literary gossip sprinkled throughout. Gore Vidal confesses that he slept with Jack Kerouac, telling Duberman, "I felt he and I owed it to American Literature to go to bed together."
Duberman's emotionally raw and keenly observant memoir illuminates both his turbulent life and the years when gay publishing began to flower just as AIDS started to devastate its landscape. --Kevin Howell, independent reviewer and marketing consultant