Cytomegalovirus: A Hospitalization Diary

Hervè Guibert is considered one of the most important French novelists of this generation. His literary works began in earnest in 1981. The content of his work changed dramatically when he was diagnosed with AIDS, from which he died in 1991. Several of his works which speak directly with his struggle with the disease have already been translated into English. Cytomegalovirus presents Guibert's intimate observations during a three-week stay in the hospital. In this work, he confronts his fear about AIDS and the cytomegalovirus that is threatening him with blindness. Throughout the ordeal, he defiantly clings to his human dignity, refusing to be treated as an object of study or of compassion. The central importance of writing as a way of recording his experience, and therefore of preserving his humanity, remains a key to understanding this work. Of interest to students, scholars, and general readers of French literature, gay studies, and literature and medicine.