Love and Death on Long Island is a cult novella written by Gilbert Adair and first published in 1990, it was subsequently adapted to make the 1997 film directed by Richard Kwietniowski, starring Jason Priestley, John Hurt, Fiona Loewi, Sheila Hancock and Anne Reid. It has latterly been adapted as stage play with music by Ben Parry, book and libretto by Gilbert Adair himself, directed by Edward Williams with Anna Carteret, Gordon Fraser and Richard O'Callaghan in pre-production for presention in London's West End 2008.

The storyline of obsession somewhat resembles that of Death in Venice. Given Adair's self-consciousness as a writer, all such resemblances are likely to be intentional.

The film has a musical score by Richard Grassby-Lewis. It was filmed in Nova Scotia.

The title includes a pun: Death/De'Ath ...The name Giles De'Ath also echoes that of Gilbert Adair.

Plot

Giles De'Ath (John Hurt) is an writer who, while attempting to see an E.M. Forster movie, accidentally sees the teen flick Hotpants College II starring Ronnie Bostock (Jason Priestley), where he becomes infatuated with Ronnie's beauty. He goes to his movies in the cinema, buys teen magazines and cuts out pictures of him, and buys a VCR and TV in order to play rented video tapes of his movies. He lets his housekeeper come into his office less and less, so that he can do these things undisturbed.

De'Ath sets out to meet Ronnie in Long Island. He finds him and stays in the house of him and his girlfriend. Ronnie is flattered by De'Ath's admiration, but Ronnie rejects De'Ath's recommendation to go to Europe and split up with his girlfriend.

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