A review by theelliad
Close to the Knives: A Memoir of Disintegration by David Wojnarowicz

2.5

This book is such an odd mix of beautiful and poetic dives into life, grief, addiction and AIDs; sickeningly detailed depictions of triggering topics which felt unnecessarily gruesome; and strangely wattpad esk narratives focusing on genitalia? While some of the shorter essays were excellently written and explored the politics and discrimination of the epidemic in a powerful way, some of the longer ones were a little too politically driven, confusing or ultimately boring. My favourite section of the book was the postscript exploring parts of the authors past through the metaphor of a gruesome bulls fight. There were sections of this book that made me giggle and sections that made me gag and i think that says just about everything…