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Review

I loved The Weekend when it first came out in 1994 and it is so good to have it back and accessible to all. This is a novella with dialog that is vapid and characters that seem to be totally languid. Set a year after death to AIDS of a loved one, three friends come together for the weekend where they all used to meet every summer. John and Marian are half-brother and sister-in-law of the dead Tony have now moved into this upstate New York country house to take up a life of leisure. Lyle, late Tony's lover is a an art critic and lecturer who has come back to the house for the first time since Tony's death and brings with him his newest sex toy, Robert, who aspires to be a painter. Laura Ponti, an aging neighbor has disappointment in her life because she and her daughter are not able to come to terms. All of this is mixed in with scenes from Tony's life and we enter the minds of the characters.

It is both the dialog and the characters that make this a book to read What was planned as a simple summer getaway instead becomes a way to deal with insecurities. It is a story of love and death, of mourning and emotions and it is very moving. The themes of friendship, grief and hope are beautifully dealt with in beautiful language. The book is quiet but potent and Cameron gives us a world that is filled with rich, human characters that are caught up in a web of loss and love and we feel what they feel. It is a small masterpiece.

 -- Amos Lassen