CITY OF GOD by Gil Cuadros...

CITY OF GOD by Gil Cuadros (City Lights Books: $9.95; 150 pp., paperback original) and THE LISTENER by Bo Huston (Saint Martin’s Press: $8.95; 168 pp.). Two young authors use fiction to examine life with AIDS. The hard-edged stories and poems by Cuadros capture the triple alienation of being Hispanic, gay and HIV-positive in contemporary L.A. “Chivalry,” a sharply observed vignette of a minority within a minority, contrasts poignantly with “Reynaldo,” a study of love denied. This talented author reminds the reader that the sand in the hourglass is flowing faster than it should in “At Risk:” “I didn’t dare ask how long I’ve got,/ palm over my mouth,/ I say mother/ softer than I ever did before.” The title novella in the collection by Bo Huston focuses on a photographer who retreats to an isolated house on the California coast, seeking a respite from the illness and death of so many friends.