The Steve Machine (PDF ebook)

Shortlisted for a 2009 Lambda Award

Dr. Phil is a large professional man with a voice like children whispering in the dark. He’s been a regular on Oprah so I see him pretty often. There are some weeks that I might see him every day. Much more than my friends at any rate. Dr. Phil says that while you might meet hundreds of people in your life, there are no more than half a dozen on the A list. There’s something else he said that quickened the pulse. Dr. Phil insists that accompanying the six (more or less) guest stars, there are just eight significant events. Eight moments, that’s how long it takes to get to the raw, beating heart of a life.

Auden, bewildered and HIV positive, flees the small town of Capreol for Toronto, and attempts to create a life his new illness won’t stick to. He tries to become a stranger so that his illness won’t recognize him. He makes friends with people he doesn’t like, visits bars he has no interest in, wears clothes he wouldn’t wear even if that was his full-time job. In the midst of his personality makeover, he meets the mysterious television artist Steve Reinke, who creates videotapes that cure insomnia and uncover secret patterns in the stock exchange. But can Steve’s art save his dying friends? Together, Steve and Auden set out on an adventure of love, loss and laughter, complete with guest appearances by Yoko Ono, the Lizard Man, Wrik the orgy master, Orlan and the cashier at Pizzabilities. This comic novel about aids is also a machine, like one of Steve’s tapes. And there’s no need to ask the bookseller for an extra switch, pulley or button. This machine can be operated simply by reading it. Exactly what does this machine produce? That is the real mystery that lies between the covers of The Steve Machine. ‘I love this book, though I prefer the original title, Steve Reinke, The Greatest Video Artist in the World.’ — The real-life Steve Reinke