"It's obvious that William Shakespeare has seen West Side Story one too many times...."

From the Spin Letters Column

Dennis Cooper's story about Jason, an HIV-positive homeless boy, was truly inspirational. It made me realize how lucky some people are; I eat three meals a day and sleep in a nice home. Why is it some get all the breaks and others get none?
COLUMBIA, MARYLAND

Your story about the "could-have-been" rock god Jason not only struck fear into my heart, it literally brought me to tears. No one in this age group seems to have a fucking chance.
LAMY, NEW MEXICO

It's obvious that Dennis Cooper has seen My Own Private Idaho one too many times. He's managed to romanticize a set of circumstances that are more likely quite unromantic, even depressing. Where AIDS, drug addiction, prostitution, and death are concerned, we can't afford the glib hipness that characterized Cooper's inolvement with his subject.
WASHINGTON, D.C.

In response to Dennis Cooper's article, I feel it causes a complete chain reaction to sell yourself and fail to inform the buy about testing positive. A person has every moral right to not get treatment, continue drugs, and have unprotected sex. But withholding such information from multiple partners hardly seems fair.
GAHANNA, OHIO