Mercury NewsBy Charles Matthews
Article Launched: 07/08/2007 06:08:33 AM PDT
The transsexual Anna (whose name is an anagram of "a man and a girl") was in some ways the central consciousness of the series, but in its finale, that role devolves upon Michael, who is also the novel's narrator. That Michael Tolliver lives, as the title tells us, is significant itself. At the end of the last book he was facing death. He had already lost his lover, Jon, to AIDS, and he was himself HIV-positive.