By Troy Carlyle

The Remainder of My Life

New and revised in 2008.

Revised editions (both soft cover and hard cover) available at Lulu.

Troy Carlyle grabs the reader like the Ancient Mariner. His story, written in "real" time, as he lived its parts, takes the reader through his triumphs as an air force cadet and career officer, with honors and medals, his media trial and conviction for the wrong sexual orientation (so much for "Don't ask, don't tell), his horrifying journey through the medical arrogance and maze of contradictory rules and regs of the health system following the diagnosis of aids--and his current, determined intent to lead a joyous, activist life. It's a heroic narrative--and despite the tragedies entailed, told with humor, love, and wit--cautiously optimistic that gay rights, civil rights, human rights still have a chance. But laughter is a must to survive--and laughter runs through the story like a river.

Tom Preston, Tyler, TX

Professor Emeritus, University of North Texas

This is an immensely affecting book, incident-rich and dramatic, told with utter sincerity and great narrative power. Carlyle's focus is living with AIDS -- and America's highly ambivalent reaction to the disease -- but also about the author's experience as a top cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy, and later an airman expelled for being gay. In the midst of our current, heated "culture war" over the place of gay men and women in our society, this gem of a book shines a bright light on what it means to be the subject of that war, and the price paid by ordinary people trying, like Carlyle, to balance life, death and the daily search for survival with humor and even joy.

J. Gerardi, Detroit, Michigan