Paul Reed

Longing was the subject of an essay by Bill Brent in the 2010 book The Lost Library: Gay Fiction Rediscovered.

Reed died on January 28, 2002 of AIDS-related complications. His final work, a compilation of his Max Evander writings titled Swollen, was published later the same year.

Reed's 1984 novel Facing It was credited as the first major AIDS-themed novel. He also later published the novels Longing (1988) and Vertical Intercourse (2000), and the memoirs The Q Journal (1991), The Savage Garden (1994) and The Redwood Diary (2001). He cowrote the HIV treatment and prevention guide How to Persuade Your Lover to Use a Condom and Why You Should (1987), and published a collection of spiritual self-help essays for people with HIV, Serenity: Challenging the Fear of AIDS, from Despair to Hope (1987). He also wrote several works of safer sex erotica under the pen name Max Evander, including Safestud: The Safesex Chronicles of Max Evander (1985), Lovesex: The Horny Relationship Chronicles of Max Evander (1986), Leathersex: Cruel Affections (1994) and Deeds of the Night (1995).

He worked for Ten Speed Press in the 1980s, eventually becoming editor-in-chief of its Celestial Arts subsidiary. Diagnosed with ARC in 1987, he left the company in 1991.

Paul Reed (May 28, 1956 – January 28, 2002) was an American writer, best known as one of the first major writers of HIV/AIDS-themed literature in the United States.