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4.49 AVERAGE
4.49 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
wow! i love reading books that make me want to lie down on the ground forever
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
There are some moments of "truthiness" like patient 0 but it is a strong non-fiction book that explains what queer people were going through at the breakout of HIV\AIDS epidemic. I did wish it discussed a few more topics, like lesbian's roles during the epidemic as caregivers and large support systems.
A VITAL, exhaustive, gut-wrenching read.
One of the all-time Great pieces of American Writing.
This book should be mandatory reading, especially for Straight People.
One of the all-time Great pieces of American Writing.
This book should be mandatory reading, especially for Straight People.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
This is a gripping, horrific depiction of the slow-motion train wreck of the AIDS epidemic as it began. Covering only the first 5 years of the 80s, Shilts lays out his case for complete mismanagement by every societal group and structure, from malicious neglect by the US government to deleterious infighting within the research community, from the press turning the other cheek and falling down on its job to the gay community placing politics over public health. He eviscerates all actors while unveiling the humanity of the thousands of people who died because society and the richest and most well-resourced nation on earth didin't even deign to watch. Gutting and also riveting - I couldn't look away.
Terrifying, tragic, heartbreaking. I went into this with the knowledge that Gaëtan Dugas has been turned by Shilts into an evil mustache-twirling caricature, and that Dugas was not actually patient zero as in the outbreak source, but patient “o” for outside the US. With that in mind, I mostly disregarded the scenes that included him. The rest of it was a horrifying deep-dive page turner into the terror of the HIV epidemic. I remember when I was a kid, HIV was an automatic death sentence. Everyone was terrified of it. And then the news about it just kinda ... went away. I didn’t realize until very recently that this was because we have effectively cured it with antiviral cocktails. I decided to do some research on the epidemic for my own edification and this book was one of my stops. Definitely satisfied my need for more info on the era. My only complaints: it’s very repetitive in places—i.e. could have used more editing—and the libelous Gaëtan stuff.
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced