The absolutely terrific writer Allen Barnett -- born in Joliet in 1955, studied at Loyola, moved to New York to act, died of aids at thirty-six in 1991 -- is in danger of being lost. His only book is out of print. His New York Times obituary said:
Mr. Barnett was the author of The Body and Its Dangers
(1990), a collection of stories in which many of the characters are afflicted with aids. The book was a winner of a PEN/ Ernest Hemingway Citation. Mr. Barnett worked for the Gay Men's Health Crisis, helped to establish the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and taught aids education to students of English as a second language at the 23d Street Y.M.C.A.
He is survived by his mother, Margaret Barnett of Joliet, Ill.; four sisters, Debby, Cindy, Donna and Rhonda, and two brothers, Dale and Ricky.
In addition to the PEN citation (a sort of runner-up to the actual award), The Body and Its Dangers
Barnett's willingness to venture into explosively emotional terrain with empathy, candor and balance is perhaps best revealed in his stunning "The Times As It Knows Us," where men sharing a summerhouse appear to have created family within the gay community--yet even this proves illusory.
Reviewing it for the Times Meg Wolitzer wrote,
The urgency of Mr. Barnett's characters, and their simple good will toward all that is human, carry considerable weight. He portrays their awareness of fragility with such candor and melancholy that they almost seem to be holding their own hearts in their hands.
Four years ago Christopher Bram wrote about Allen in the excellent queer lit rescue project The Lost Library: Gay Fiction Rediscovered [and Kindle] conceived and edited by Tom Cardamone. For serious readers, this book is a must for its 28 essays and its bibliography citing further works by more than 80 gay authors.
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