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em_wemily 's review for:
And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic
by Randy Shilts
4.0
This was an eye-opening read. Meticulous, rousing, poignant - all of the above. This is a monstrously sized book about how politics was responsible for the United State's inadequate response to the AIDS crisis at its onset.
What I liked
1. The mix of personal stories with institutional-level events: This allowed Shilts to tell a very personal story of love and loss in the context of a much larger problem. This was very well done; parts of this book were downright heartbreaking. Shilt's storytelling style made this work of non-fiction read like fiction.
2. Novel information: I learned so much reading this (granted, I didn't know much about this topic to begin with, but still)! I didn't know that there was a huge scandal about AIDS being spread through blood-derived treatments for hemophiliacs, that one of the gay community's biggest hindrances to stopping the spread of AIDS was internal dissent amongst themselves (I didn't know the role gay bathhouses played), that AIDS used to be called 'HTLV-III,' named so by the French scientists that discovered it first, etc. This was just jam-packed with fascinating information.
3. Authenticity: This book revealed Randy Shilt's frustration with how AIDS was handled. It was clear in what people he chose to name, what disagreements he repeatedly covered, and what deaths he delved into with great detail.
What I didn't like
1. Halfway through, the book became very repetitive: One of the main points of this book was that even as years went by, little was done to address AIDS by people who had the power to do so (federal level policies, funding, advocation, etc.) But since Shilts went year by year, month by month, the middling portion of the book was extremely repetitive, which I suppose he could argue was the point. Nonetheless, I felt I had to slog through it.
2. Too much unnecessary detail: There were so many names and dates given in rapid fire order, that I began to skim the book at parts. I think this could have been 100-200 pages shorter.
Parallels I Noticed Between AIDS and COVID-19 at their beginnings
(I thought it was be interesting to take a look at the parallels between AIDs and COVID-19, given that they're two of the biggest pandemics to happen, all within the last 50 years, and because COVID-19 is happening right now.)
1. Politics detracting from productive, health-oriented conversations about the disease.
1a) Politicking downplaying the disease's threat due to concerns over panic and financial losses.
1b) Politicking exploiting people's fears about a disease to divide the general population.
2. People choosing to ignore health guidelines because it inconveniences them.
2a) The conversation about rights vs. public health measures
3. The conversation about business interests vs. public health measures
4. Top US Government officials claiming that they don't have enough money to invest in the handling of the disease or passing off the responsibility of handling the disease to those on the lower rungs of government.
4a) Lack of cohesive strategy from the federal level on how to deal with the disease
5) Rampant disinformation and callous preying on those impacted by the disease
5a) Promises of miracle cures with high price tags
5b) Conspiracy theories that undermine the health guidelines provided by top health officials
(may edit later)
This was an eye-opening read. Meticulous, rousing, poignant - all of the above. This is a monstrously sized book about how politics was responsible for the United State's inadequate response to the AIDS crisis at its onset.
What I liked
1. The mix of personal stories with institutional-level events: This allowed Shilts to tell a very personal story of love and loss in the context of a much larger problem. This was very well done; parts of this book were downright heartbreaking. Shilt's storytelling style made this work of non-fiction read like fiction.
2. Novel information: I learned so much reading this (granted, I didn't know much about this topic to begin with, but still)! I didn't know that there was a huge scandal about AIDS being spread through blood-derived treatments for hemophiliacs, that one of the gay community's biggest hindrances to stopping the spread of AIDS was internal dissent amongst themselves (I didn't know the role gay bathhouses played), that AIDS used to be called 'HTLV-III,' named so by the French scientists that discovered it first, etc. This was just jam-packed with fascinating information.
3. Authenticity: This book revealed Randy Shilt's frustration with how AIDS was handled. It was clear in what people he chose to name, what disagreements he repeatedly covered, and what deaths he delved into with great detail.
What I didn't like
1. Halfway through, the book became very repetitive: One of the main points of this book was that even as years went by, little was done to address AIDS by people who had the power to do so (federal level policies, funding, advocation, etc.) But since Shilts went year by year, month by month, the middling portion of the book was extremely repetitive, which I suppose he could argue was the point. Nonetheless, I felt I had to slog through it.
2. Too much unnecessary detail: There were so many names and dates given in rapid fire order, that I began to skim the book at parts. I think this could have been 100-200 pages shorter.
Parallels I Noticed Between AIDS and COVID-19 at their beginnings
(I thought it was be interesting to take a look at the parallels between AIDs and COVID-19, given that they're two of the biggest pandemics to happen, all within the last 50 years, and because COVID-19 is happening right now.)
1. Politics detracting from productive, health-oriented conversations about the disease.
1a) Politicking downplaying the disease's threat due to concerns over panic and financial losses.
1b) Politicking exploiting people's fears about a disease to divide the general population.
2. People choosing to ignore health guidelines because it inconveniences them.
2a) The conversation about rights vs. public health measures
3. The conversation about business interests vs. public health measures
4. Top US Government officials claiming that they don't have enough money to invest in the handling of the disease or passing off the responsibility of handling the disease to those on the lower rungs of government.
4a) Lack of cohesive strategy from the federal level on how to deal with the disease
5) Rampant disinformation and callous preying on those impacted by the disease
5a) Promises of miracle cures with high price tags
5b) Conspiracy theories that undermine the health guidelines provided by top health officials
(may edit later)