Wojnarowicz also wrote several successful books, many about political and social issues relating to the AIDS epidemic. One of his bestsellers, "Close to the Knives: A Memoir of Disintegration", is an autobiography discussing topics such as his troubled childhood, becoming a renowned artist in New York City, and his AIDS diagnosis. "Knives" opens with an essay about his homeless years: a boy in glasses selling his skinny body to the paedophiles and creeps who hung around Times Square. The heart of "Knives" is the title essay, which deals with the sickness and death of Peter Hujar, Wojnarowicz's lover, best friend and mentor, "my brother, my father, my emotional link to the world". In the final essay, "The Suicide of a Guy Who Once Built an Elaborate Shrine Over a Mouse Hole", Wojnarowicz investigates the suicide of a friend, mixing his own reflections with interviews with members of their shared circle.