A memoir of the author's relationship with a pair of beloved canine companions is a tribute to their irrepressible personalities, their life-changing impact on the author and his family, and their role in how the author came to understand loss and grief.

"The year is 1989 and Mark Doty's life has reached a state of enviable equilibrium. His reputation as a poet of formidable talent is growing, he enjoys his work as a college professor, and, perhaps most important, he is deeply in love with his partner of many years, Wally Roberts. The harmonious existence these two men share is shattered, however, when they learn that Wally has tested positive for HIV." "In Heaven's Coast - part memoir, part journal,...