[Henry] "...when you start running from yourself, you end up in some pretty dark places." - Michael Nava

[John, to Henry] "Here's your dog. Con todo, like you said. Mustard, relish, onion — you sure it's okay for you to eat this with your heart and all?"
"If it's not," I said, biting into the hot dog, "I'll die a happy man."

AIDS has had the effect of forcing gay men to examine their sexual expression.

The fighting had ended and his old routines had begun to be re-established ‑ even El Morito had reappeared, skinny and flea-ridden - but nothing was as it had been. He was like someone who had stepped into a long, dark, and frightening tunnel and, coming into the light, could not blink away the darkness that continued to cloud the periphery of his vision. The world was a more arbitrary and crueler place, and even though his family surrounded him, he knew now that he was essentially alone in it.