A great conductor once said about the virtuoso cellist Jacqueline du Pre “If you possess no excesses in the bloom of youth, what will there be to pare away on the long road to maturity?” In the matter of Rodney Lofton’s first outing as an author we may rephrase the question thus: If a new writer is capable of this level of rawness, emotional force and forthright vulnerability in his first outing, what will subsequent offerings disclose? The Day I Stopped Being Pretty is relentless in its honesty and utter lack of pretension. Mr. Lofton makes no attempt to turn the episodes of his life into fiction, not that there is any need to do so; Mr. Lofton has undergone trials, heartbreak and triumphs of near cinematic proportion. Events take place in such a painful, uncanny sequence it is easy to forget that these are not the fanciful, kaleidoscopic imaginings of a gifted author; they are the very real events of his life. The introduction to the book left this writer in tears. Lofton begins his harrowing autobiography by depicting himself preparing for a visit from a special man in his life. Just as the reader is expecting some paragon of male beauty, the perspective undergoes a cataclysmic shift with the words “Hi, Dad.” We have been observing Lofton as a young boy, full of tender, unrequited love for his father, waiting by the window to be taken away from his life for an hour or two.

            It is this seed of introduction that blossoms into a veritable forest of love, pain and loss. When Lofton is in the arms of one of the men who will make a mark on his life, the sensuality and passion that inform these moments is so palpable as to place it on the shelf with good erotica; when he finds out he is HIV positive, Lofton approaches the reader in his terror and suffering and we, already moved to empathy and understanding long before, suffer with him. The book is not without its moments of transcendence and consolation; the very title comes from the moment in the book where the author embraces all that he is: a black, gay, HIV positive man. It is a rare author that has such power over the heartstrings in his first work. I wouldn’t read this book without a box of tissues handy, and I would keep my eyes peeled for the next piece from this author.