Ask the Author: Lewis DeSimone
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Lewis DeSimone
This summer I'm finally working my way through Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels. Ferrante portrays a beautifully realized world that, while unfamiliar in its specifics, rings true on every page. The character of Lila, brilliant and frustrating, is as vivid and memorable as Bronte's Heathcliff or Joyce's Bloom.
Lewis DeSimone
Many years ago, I attended a memorial service for someone I had never met, the lover of a colleague from my office. I attend the memorial to pay my respects to my friend, but the event inspired me in many ways. It was the first time I'd ever been to a service for someone who had died of AIDS, and I found myself surrounded by so many of his friends, all talking about someone who, to me, was a mystery man. I began to think about how we're all mysteries to one another, ultimately. Everyone had their own image, their own memories of this person I'd never known. Don't we all? Don't we all see one another through our own unique vision? In that moment, the central theme of "The Heart's History" was born: how tragic it is to lose someone before you feel confident that you've fully understood him. That phenomenon is particularly true when it comes to AIDS, which has taken from us so many people in their prime, just when they were getting to know themselves, let alone everyone else.
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