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4.49 AVERAGE
4.49 AVERAGE
It is so frustrating to be reminded of the politization of AIDS, especially during the current pandemic
challenging
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic
Second time around, this book was still absolutely infuriating. It was absurdly well-written and fulfills Shilts's goal: it makes you realize the hopelessness of the history of AIDS and how a lack of caring and funding is what made it so hopeless. With better government funding and less politicking, the AIDS epidemic could have been much less destructive.
That said, I definitely noticed the bias Shilts has in my second reading. He has his thesis, and he doesn't deviate from it. I also found his foreshadowing to be a little clunky - he ends sections throughout the first half of the book by having someone think, "Oh, at least this hasn't entered the blood supply. That would be devastating." Anyone who is reading this book knows that it will, in fact, enter the blood supply - it gets a little repetitive to have comments like that repeatedly. I was also distracted by the "San Francisco Chronicle reporter" or "reporter friend" that seems to be in a lot of scenes - it's clearly Shilts himself, so that's a little strange.
Overall, what I love most about the book is that it puts a human face on specific people who died early on from the disease. I was reading Gary Walsh's death scene on the bus a few days ago and started crying a little bit; if I had been at home, I would have bawled. Shilts makes sure that you have spent enough time with these men that it really does hit you when they finally succumb.
That said, I definitely noticed the bias Shilts has in my second reading. He has his thesis, and he doesn't deviate from it. I also found his foreshadowing to be a little clunky - he ends sections throughout the first half of the book by having someone think, "Oh, at least this hasn't entered the blood supply. That would be devastating." Anyone who is reading this book knows that it will, in fact, enter the blood supply - it gets a little repetitive to have comments like that repeatedly. I was also distracted by the "San Francisco Chronicle reporter" or "reporter friend" that seems to be in a lot of scenes - it's clearly Shilts himself, so that's a little strange.
Overall, what I love most about the book is that it puts a human face on specific people who died early on from the disease. I was reading Gary Walsh's death scene on the bus a few days ago and started crying a little bit; if I had been at home, I would have bawled. Shilts makes sure that you have spent enough time with these men that it really does hit you when they finally succumb.
This has long been on my TBR list and finally digging into it during the first few weeks of quarantine during coronavirus proved to be a wise move. The parallels between the lack of a coordinated federal response to the growing AIDS crisis, the chronic underfunding of public health and infectious disease programs, and the ease with which those in charge are willing to ignore the pain, suffering, and death of marginalized communities right up until the point it could endanger the lives of the privileged classes make for an eerie mirror to today’s COVID-19 crisis. At times Shilts’ reporting and writing feels dated (in particular when he writes about the disease in African nations), but his anger and his personal investment continue to keep it fresh. 3.5 stars.
This book took me forever to read, partially because it’s incredibly dense and partially because, well, it’s kind of a bummer, for obvious reasons. But I wouldn’t have wanted it to be less dense - all the stories were important, and I thought the author weaved in the personal narratives well with the facts and figures. My biggest takeaway when reading about the early stages of the epidemic was that feeling when you’re watching a horror movie and you know something bad is coming and you’re yelling at the screen “don’t go in there” but the characters can’t hear you, you know?
Also, it would have been infuriating at any time to read about how the mainstream media and the federal government contributed to thousands of deaths out of sheer negligence (and only started giving a shit when it began affecting more than the gay community) and how the debate became about personal freedoms vs. life-saving prevention initiatives, but reading this in 2022, two years into a global pandemic - idk, hits different, man.
Also: rot in hell, Ronald Reagan.
Also, it would have been infuriating at any time to read about how the mainstream media and the federal government contributed to thousands of deaths out of sheer negligence (and only started giving a shit when it began affecting more than the gay community) and how the debate became about personal freedoms vs. life-saving prevention initiatives, but reading this in 2022, two years into a global pandemic - idk, hits different, man.
Also: rot in hell, Ronald Reagan.
Interesting and sad depiction of the AIDS epidemic in it's earliest stages. Ultimately, book was way to long, repetitive, too many characters to keep straight.
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
A wild insight into what the early 1980's of the AIDS epidemic looked like -- from the grand historical vantage point of 1987.
My tongue and cheek review of this book is: "everyone f-ed up except for the CDC, which did a mostly good job (and the Pasture Institute).
This book is VERY long. I understand the need to be thorough, but it could have been half as long as gotten the point across just as well - or maybe better because more people would have finished it.
Reading this in 2019 is a very different experience than in the early 1990s, I'm sure. AIDS is a different thing. I'm not old enough to remember the crisis and fear of the 1980s but I grew up in a world where you used condoms so I really had problems identifying with the excesses of the early 1980s and the feeling that promotion of safe sex was the same as anti-gay. In many ways, the books seems really dated.
It also is a political history, not a medical book. I walked away having many questions about HIV/AIDS. Does the virus really kill 100% of those infected? Does anyone survive without anti-retro-viral drugs? I know it was written in 1987 so the answer might have been unknown then, but an update might be nice.
There are parts of the books that seem quaint and naive in 2019. If only we had a president ignored instead of inciting violence. I miss the good ol' days of bad Republican presidents. If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, at least these people had good intentions. Most of them, anyway.
Still, there are some things that are still so relevant and prevalent today. People putting politics above common sense. Hypocrisy. This book should condensed so everyone can read it because it really does have a lot of value that transcends HIV/AIDS/
This book is VERY long. I understand the need to be thorough, but it could have been half as long as gotten the point across just as well - or maybe better because more people would have finished it.
Reading this in 2019 is a very different experience than in the early 1990s, I'm sure. AIDS is a different thing. I'm not old enough to remember the crisis and fear of the 1980s but I grew up in a world where you used condoms so I really had problems identifying with the excesses of the early 1980s and the feeling that promotion of safe sex was the same as anti-gay. In many ways, the books seems really dated.
It also is a political history, not a medical book. I walked away having many questions about HIV/AIDS. Does the virus really kill 100% of those infected? Does anyone survive without anti-retro-viral drugs? I know it was written in 1987 so the answer might have been unknown then, but an update might be nice.
There are parts of the books that seem quaint and naive in 2019. If only we had a president ignored instead of inciting violence. I miss the good ol' days of bad Republican presidents. If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, at least these people had good intentions. Most of them, anyway.
Still, there are some things that are still so relevant and prevalent today. People putting politics above common sense. Hypocrisy. This book should condensed so everyone can read it because it really does have a lot of value that transcends HIV/AIDS/
While I appreciate the cultural importance of this book, and will find it hard to criticize too harshly any book that exposes Reagan, Falwell, and the other monsters of the 80s, what this book did to Gaetan Dugas is unforgivable.
For those who aren’t aware, Dugas was a Quebecois flight attendant widely regarded as “Patient Zero” because of his promiscuity and connection to many of the first AIDS patients. Shilts vilifies him throughout this book without ever having met him or knowing anything about his personality. The passages where ‘Dugas’ is quoted are entirely fictional, yet Shilts still chose to demonize.
We later find out that Dugas was not patient zero, but rather patient ‘O’ for ‘Orange county’, and was not a heartless villain but a kind man who played a significant role in our early understanding of the virus and syndrome before succumbing to it. He is a hero if anything.
Watch the movie ‘Killing Patient Zero’
_____________________________________
With that important part out of the way: the books is packed with information that IS verifiable and horrific. The U.S. government, backed by the moral majority, worked by omission to ignore and stigmatize the gay community in wake of the worst public health disaster in the 20th century. Their hatred and ignorance led to the proliferation of AIDS and underfunding to unimaginable amounts of suffering. If there is a hell; Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, Jerry Falwell, Walter Alexander, and any other bad actors in this outright failure, belong there.
I plan on reading other AIDS literature to supplement this, because it’s still a topic that’s largely ignored, is for no other reason than it’s just ravaging another part of the world.
For those who aren’t aware, Dugas was a Quebecois flight attendant widely regarded as “Patient Zero” because of his promiscuity and connection to many of the first AIDS patients. Shilts vilifies him throughout this book without ever having met him or knowing anything about his personality. The passages where ‘Dugas’ is quoted are entirely fictional, yet Shilts still chose to demonize.
We later find out that Dugas was not patient zero, but rather patient ‘O’ for ‘Orange county’, and was not a heartless villain but a kind man who played a significant role in our early understanding of the virus and syndrome before succumbing to it. He is a hero if anything.
Watch the movie ‘Killing Patient Zero’
_____________________________________
With that important part out of the way: the books is packed with information that IS verifiable and horrific. The U.S. government, backed by the moral majority, worked by omission to ignore and stigmatize the gay community in wake of the worst public health disaster in the 20th century. Their hatred and ignorance led to the proliferation of AIDS and underfunding to unimaginable amounts of suffering. If there is a hell; Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, Jerry Falwell, Walter Alexander, and any other bad actors in this outright failure, belong there.
I plan on reading other AIDS literature to supplement this, because it’s still a topic that’s largely ignored, is for no other reason than it’s just ravaging another part of the world.