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Summary: An excellent (if disturbing) look at medical public policy
Review: Even though we've moved well beyond the early stages of the AIDS epidemic (which is what this fine book chronicles) it's still an important book. The stories of the people are moving and interesting. Even more important are the insights the story gives us on how politics, budgets, medical research protocol, and egos can drastically affect medical research. It gives you a lot of food for thought.
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Summary: If you want to read one book about AIDS, this is the one.
Review: Excellent blend of sociology, history, and political science with a touch of biology for flair. If you want to know how a book can be technical and personal read this book. Shilts has done all the research for us, no need to look any further for a comprehensive understanding of the evolution of AIDS in the United States.
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Summary: Unbelievable!
Review: I am at a loss of words with this book. Its fascinating, horrifying, moving, outraging, and most terrifyingly, its an accurate discription of history.If you are even remotely interested in AIDS,read this. Its a fascinating AIDS history encyclopedia.
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Summary: This book is amazing! I'm gonna go buy it!
Review: I am in the process of reading this book and so far ist is the most important book I've ever read. Its amazing to me that all this began just a few years before I was born and that I am part of the first generation to have to deal with AIDS through my whole lifetime. This book has inspired me to go into the field of epidemiology when I am older. I reccommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about the desease. It is an awesome book!
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Summary: A Life-Altering Read
Review: I can say nothing more than this book, very sincerely, changed my life. I purchased And the Band Played On in order to research the rise of the early-AIDS epidemic for a college course. It was following two nearly uninterrupted days of reading that I realized where my interest in medicine, history, and law was someday going to take me. I am now planning to begin law school in 2000 and will focus my studies on AIDS discrimination. My university life is now filled with medical journals, historical reads, and personal stories which each leave me yearning for more information regarding the epidemic. For a student who only two short years ago had no idea where her history major was going to get her, I now feel that And the Band Played On was the single greatest contributor in my discovering a future career that empassions me and enrages me all at the same time. Thank you, Randy Shilts.
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Summary: An astounding work of journalism
Review: I couldn't put it down. Not only did it document, day by day, the spread of the AIDS epidemic, it also documented the terrible blindness that allowed it to go on. I wept openly throughout the book. Touching, horrifying, and the definitive work on the AIDS epidemic. Easy to read, explaining in layman's terms the complex scientific terminology favored by the scientist characters. This is real, and that, ultimately, gives this book its power to move people. It will haunt you for days.
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Summary: if you've made it this far...buy it!
Review: i generally refrain from rating books, but without doubt, this book is worth much more than what they're charging. I have no complaints. this was the perfect mix of politics, medicine, and sociology. ive read a few books concerned with this subject matter that were too detached. they focused on the big picture, and certainly had some staggering stats to make you think, but shilts made it personal, and never strayed. I wish their were more books like this one.
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Summary: if you've made it this far...buy it!
Review: i generally refrain from rating books, but without doubt, this book is worth much more than what they're charging. I have no complaints. this was the perfect mix of politics, medicine, and sociology. ive read a few books concerned with this subject matter that were too detached. they focused on the big picture, and certainly had some staggering stats to make you think, but shilts made it personal, and never strayed. I wish their were more books like this one.
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Summary: Untruth unvailed
Review: I have nothing but admiration for the journalistic efforts of Randy Shilts in his manifesto of the early years of the epidemic of AIDS. He shows courage, in stating its history accurately. I was intrigued and saddened by the quarreling of the eminent scientists in whose task it was to attempt to stop and control this virus. I commend Dr. Francis for his valor in putting human life above personal achievement and acolades. While Dr. Gallo should be admonished for his obivous Narracism, ultimately even he cannot be judged too harsly, for in the end he only suffered from human weakness. My heart bleeds and my eyes still tear, when I think back to the countless life stories in this book. I was exspecially moved by the love between Matthew Krieger and Gary Walsh. I thought it was pure genius to use Matthew's journal to tell this endearing and sad story. It was all encompassing and very deep. It showed the strength this couple gained admist much advircity and human loss. I think the strength of this book lies in its power to challenge us the human race to look beyond our prejudace and fears and embrace our fellow man. The plague of AIDS showed very concretely how far we have yet to come. I think Hermann Hesse's book The Plauge was purely prophetic of the inpending epidemic of AIDS. History has proven often that fiction is simply non-fiction, that has yet to happpen. In closing, I say of Randy Shilts: How do you describe a star whose journey too-brief touched so many lives? Matthew J. Rowe
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Summary: This Book Encouraged me to Ride My Bike 350 Miles
Review: I read this book several years ago, and the effect of that reading is still making an impact on my life. Randy Shilts blends science, sexuality, politics and humanity into a gripping and emotion-provoking story detailing the rise of the AIDS Epidemic. By drawing the readers into the lives of individuals and communities at the core of the epidemic, Shilts gives them the opportunity to see how the epidemic developed and spread, and the ways in which it was allowed to spread further, thru apathy, inaction, ignorance (both deliberate and not), fear, and even egotism. When I listen to the news in today's world, and I hear accounts of the post-9/11 Anthrax scares, or the recent pneumonia illness that has now affected some 1,500 people -- my heart aches. Not to discount the reality of these illnesses, but all I can remember is how angered and saddened I felt as I read "And the Band Played On" and realized that hundreds of thousands of people were infected before the word AIDS was ever mentioned in the media. I was a sophmore in college when I first remember hearing about AIDS. That was in 1987. How many people had died from the disease before I even knew what it was???? I feel everyone should read this book. It doesn't just apply to people in high-risk populations. I happen to be a young heterosexual female, and this book made such an impression on me, that last summer, I found myself joining a 350-mile bike marathon to raise money and awareness for people living with HIV and AIDS. When people asked me why I was doing the ride, I told them about "And the Band Played On." Randy Shilts' book is haunting and most of all, REAL. The only bad thing is that the book ends -- AIDS doesn't.
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