The Covered Man

What happens when an ordinary man becomes a messiah? A witty, prescient and eloquent satire by one of New Zealand's finest writers. Far into the twenty-first century, Albous Slaven's life is spectacularly and irrevocably altered after he hangs for an instant from a power line. While recuperating, he senses a new-found gift; the gift of oratory. Driven to hold rallies throughout New Zealand, Slaven astounds and alarms the ruling politicians. He too is astounded and often bemused by the response of the tens of thousands who flock to hear him. But what is his message? Is he a Messiah, a political saviour, or an idealist who conjures up forces he can neither understand nor control? Shortlisted for the Montana Book Award for Fiction and described by Vincent O'Sullivan as `Delightfully sardonic; philosophically mischievous', this novel deftly and disconcertingly explores its characters' lives in this lyrical picture of New Zealand.

Between 2009 and 2011, journalism fellows of the HIV & AIDS Media Project undertook in-depth research looking to write about men, masculinity, and HIV in a new way, and the result is this compendium of articles, blogs, and photo essays. It showcases a diversity of men, each facing a unique context and dealing with sexual health and relationships differently. The book is structured around four central themes—men as lovers, men as partners and fathers, men who have sex with men, and men's relationship to traditional and medical male circumcision—and brings men's varied roles in the HIV epidemic to the fore.

Starsky and Hutch marked a turning point in the history of television and David Soul was to experience a new kind of fame. At its height, Starsky and Hutch was the most popular television series in the world. Television had its first global brand and David Soul was the first global megastar of the television age. THE COVERED MAN gets beneath the skin of the cult of celebrity and lays bare the very lowest reaches of the high life. When he arrived in New York from the Midwest, as a fresh-faced, penniless young singer, David sought out fame and fortune. He was to find both, but at what cost... THE COVERED MAN is no warm bath of nostalgia. David pulls no punches, recounting with unflinching honesty many of the most difficult parts of his life - as well as sharing with us the highs, the parties and the sexual conquests that are part and parcel of life in the fast lane. David Soul's story so far is a rollercoaster ride to hell and back. It's a complex and fascinating journey to the dark heart of celebrity itself.

The author descends from early Dutch settlers who settled in what eventually became New York and New Jersey. Their descendants married descendants of German emigrants who had settled in Pennsylvania and western Virginia.