TOPMAN ¶ Online Writings by and about John Preston

John Preston Sets His Priorities

April 1994

By Susie Bright

[In The Best American Erotica 2003, readers chose John Preston's story "Absolution" as #35 on a list of the 100 best stories published in the anthology during the past decade. In her entry for the story, editor Susie Bright describes how "Absolution" came to be used in the 1994 anthology.]

I phoned John a few days before he died, asking him if he could fax me permission to run this story. After listening to him barely able to answer the phone, I started crying. "John, I said, "this is so fucked up . . . here you are, dying of AIDS – and I'm calling to get a publishing contract signed. I'm sure you could care less."

"On the contrary," he said, "it's really the only thing I do care about."

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