The Intruder, by Brett Shapiro

Two adults, each with a son, meet, fall in love, set up a home, get married, and decide to have another child together. On the surface, an ordinary story like many others. But beneath the surface is a double challenge: to the world, because they are both men; and to death, because one of them is HIV positive.

When, in June 1990, in New York, writer Brett Shapiro meets Giovanni Forti, the U.S. correspondent for an Italian weekly magazine, Giovanni is asymptomatic. Within a few months, his physical decline begins. The syndrome becomes the third wheel—the “intruder”—in their relationship. In this memoir, alternating Brett’s lucid narration with Giovanni’s high-spirited letters, both voices bring to life the passionate realization of this unique and, for many, deeply provocative family project.

There are no shadows; the facts are recounted for what they are, without false modesty or self-pity, with full awareness that the illness will eventually prevail, but also with the certainty that the family will face it with dignity and love.

Set in the turbulent early 90s, this is a love story without pretense. The intelligence and force of their love and their pain will live on in those who take this book into their hands.