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interruptinggirljoke's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.25
kelsiej's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
2.5
This book was equal parts informative and obnoxious. There were some great pieces about various queer figures and stories that highlight the profound grief of the AIDS crisis. It was a very interesting take on ways that homogeneity and elevating the privileged class hurts us all. But I struggled so much with the author's condescension. I also wish she'd added footnotes or a bibliography because there were a surprising amount of (potentially) unsupported assertions
2.5 ⭐ because the ideas were strong but the author was so unpleasant
2.5 ⭐ because the ideas were strong but the author was so unpleasant
inevole's review against another edition
5.0
Sarah Schulman should be taught in every school in America. I only discovered her last year, and I'm just amazed by her intellect, her profound belief in others and her ability to see humanity in all its ugliness and beauty. It's criminal that I had to find her by accident/happenstance.
Every queer person should read this book in order to learn about our history, to contextualize the AIDS crisis in a way that is constructive and helps us move forward rather than crippling us with the sheer weight of the knowledge of its devastation. This is in addition to the reasons non-queer people should read it:
Every non-queer person should read this book in order to learn about the mechanics of how dominant culture erases its own crimes. They should read it to learn what America lost because of the mass deaths and many traumatized individuals affected directly by AIDS/still being affected by AIDS. And they should read it to be given a practical map (based on how ACT UP was successful) of how to force dominant culture to change when it absolutely does not want to change. This is a concise book with huge ideas that deserves to be returned to over and over for its wisdom and stubborn optimism.
Every queer person should read this book in order to learn about our history, to contextualize the AIDS crisis in a way that is constructive and helps us move forward rather than crippling us with the sheer weight of the knowledge of its devastation. This is in addition to the reasons non-queer people should read it:
Every non-queer person should read this book in order to learn about the mechanics of how dominant culture erases its own crimes. They should read it to learn what America lost because of the mass deaths and many traumatized individuals affected directly by AIDS/still being affected by AIDS. And they should read it to be given a practical map (based on how ACT UP was successful) of how to force dominant culture to change when it absolutely does not want to change. This is a concise book with huge ideas that deserves to be returned to over and over for its wisdom and stubborn optimism.
sudden_organ's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.75
frankie_s's review against another edition
4.0
Wow, this was complex and compelling and I’ll be thinking about it for ages, even if the argument sometimes seems to miss a step or two. Would recommend.