When they met, david was a 41-year-old heroin addict, homeless and dying of aids. The author was a 27-year-old, self-absorbed, bar-hopping would-be poet--and his caseworker. In 1989, in New York city, there was nothing "...When they met, david was a 41-year-old heroin addict, homeless and dying of aids. The author was a 27-year-old, self-absorbed, bar-hopping would-be poet--and his caseworker. In 1989, in New York city, there was nothing "Manageable" About aids, and david would have only eight more months to live.