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And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic

And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic

List Price: $16.95
Your Price: $11.53
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Heartbreaking
Review: I still remember a powerful first experience with this book. Even the title conjured up a reaction as it initially reminded me of musicians playing on a sinking Titanic, and both stories (that of the Titanic disaster and unbelievable ignorance, denial and embarrasment that took AIDS from outbreak to epidemic to catastrophe) bring about the same sort of sinking feeling.

Shilts' truly extraordinary book is one of the most incredibly detailed accounts that I have ever read...on any topic, and many of these details are very upsetting but sadly not surprising. The stories of these people, their suffering, the humanity (as well as its staggering absence in many cases) will make many a reader angry. The book has left me with a lot of contempt and pity, not for victims or the pioneers in, but for those in power at the time, who are now directly responsible for the state of the AIDS epidemic today. I hesitate to call them murderers as none of the powers that be would sully themselves by even saying the word "AIDS" in public. Manslaughter, however, is a word that went through my thoughts more than once. What Shilts managed to make perfectly clear is that victims were infected with AIDS and the disease was allowed to spread because the little information that was known was swept under the carpet, particularly a rather posh rug in a genteel drawing room of a grand Washington house (I don't even want to get started on the Reagans). I imagine that "And the Band Played ON" will go down in history as the text book for the AIDS story. The story itself may quite well end up as not only the great legacy of the Conservative Governments of the 1980's, but also the greatest single miscarriage of humanity against itself. The book is a heartbreaking history of a mishap not unlike that of the Titanic, the only difference being that this ship was not only allowed, but encouraged to sink.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A must read for all people in the US, a wake up call
Review: I thought Randy Shilts' account of the harrowing, persistent way AIDS wove its way into the US was amazing. Albeit a bit technical, the book held me spellbound and made me think twice about what is fact and what is fiction behind the closed doors of our government. The way the disease was treated cost many lives and a great embarassment to our country and Shilts portrays this saga in an exquisite way.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An outstanding work of journalism
Review: I'm sure most people are familiar with the story but just as very brief background Randy Shilts was a reporter at the epicenter of the AIDS crisis when it first began. When his paper assigned him to cover the story on a regular basis (the only paper in the country to do so), he gained access to an vast wealth of material and a unique perspective-one that for many years went largely unreported by most of the media until the death of Rock Hudson changed everything. Shilts discovered he himself was HIV positive after he finished the book; he had asked his doctor not to reveal the test results to him until then. He passed way in 1994. His work to alert his own community on the coming health crisis often made him a pariah within it.

This is an amazing history of how the virus took off in America and an insight into why it remained so under-reported for so long. The story involves some very brave patients, some very irresponsible ones, incredibly dedicated medical professionals, major bungling by our government and the blood industry-some of it intentional and some paths paved with good intentions, and the mixed, frustrating reaction of the gay community itself. Shilts doesn't write completely without bias-he calls the decision of the CDC to release patient names to an NYC bloodbank "incredibly stupid" but who wouldn't agree with him on that point? Also, Shilt's fury at certain members of the Reagan administration and Reagan himself is palpable. Once again though, who wouldn't agree with him once the story has been unfolded. His anger is not limited just to the government nor is this just an anti-Republican screed-he praises Orrin Hatch and Everett Koop while bitterly recalling the inaction of Ed Koch's administration in New York. Gay leaders also are not always portrayed in a flattering light. For all of that though, Shilts struggles to be fair and largely is successful.

This book may look daunting, both because of it's subject matter and it's length (clocking in around 600 pages.) However it is incredibly worth your time and written so well that you'll make surprisingly short work of it. Even if you aren't interested in AIDS per se, the story of how our government responded to this crisis (or, rather, largely failed to) should and will frighten you. An incredible call to action and snapshot of a moment in time and place that might otherwise have been forgotten. And that would be a tragedy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very informative and very personal
Review: If you are even the slightest bit interested in how the AIDS epidemic came about, READ THIS BOOK! If you have a couple of days to spend, READ THIS BOOK! It shows both the statistics of the epidemic and the personal stories of the people who died, the survivors, and the people who tried to bring it to the world. One thing - it can be hard to get through, but it is well worth it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: If you read only one book...
Review: If you read only one book on the inept bureaucracy we call our government, this should be it. But after you finish, you WILL want more Randy Shilts -- so, go ahead, read "Conduct Unbecoming," his other wonderfully researched and documented book filled with personal stories that will make you shake your head on yet another aspect of the same problem. Bravo to a fine journalist who's day came and went too soon. Make no mistake, Shilts writes about topics of interest to the gay community -- and in so doing, he illuminates universal inadequacies that should [make us all angry].. after we quit crying.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The true story of the AIDS epidemic
Review: If you're seeking a history of AIDS and how it became a worldwide plague, written in exhaustive detail as a chronology on a almost day-by-day basis, look no further than And The Band Played On., written by the late Randy Shilts, who himself died of AIDS and also wrote The Mayor of Castro Street, a biography of gay activist Harvey Milk.

I felt this book was one the finest pieces of investigative reporting I'd ever read. It covers the late 70s and early-to-mid 80s, and is not only a story of how the AIDS virus itself got to be so widespread, but also an expose of a negligent Reagan-era government that crippled research by budget cuts, and bigoted, apathetic medical authorities and news media who wouldn't deal with the epidemic; not because they didn't have the means, but because they didn't want the stigma of being associated with homosexual goings-on.

Mr. Shilts also describes how many people in the gay communities themselves - especially in New York and San Francisco - didn't want to face the reality of the disease because they were afraid it would cause them to lose everything they gained in the gay liberation movement.

While all this was going on, people were dying of this scourge, and still are.

I thought this was one of the saddest, most powerful books I've ever read. If nothing else, I hope future generations heed the lesson it teaches.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: the hero in us all...
Review: In 20 years time when the spectre of aids has passed us all by for newer and even more deadly viruses historians will look back at these times and wonder how we fought and died and survived through it all. They will have to look no further than this fascinating chronicle. The stories and intimate details of some of the lives most effected by HIV are chronicled here in gut wrenching detail. Author Shilts pulls no punches. He follows the advent of the virus from its first beginnings in Africa to its eventual targets in the homosexual communities of europe and the USA. Notably the gay capitals of San Francisco and New York. It is incredible to us that initially doctors & nurses could behave with such an unprofessional manner but to them these were the new lepers. Single young men affected not only with a deadly virus but also with the scarlet letter of homosexuality. It was not a time for the health community to be proud of. Thankfully they have since made up for these early mistakes. But from all these events there evolved heroes of sorts. Don Francis of the NIH,Mervyn Silverman, Selma Dritz, Mary Guinan, Willian Darrow, Harold Jaffe, not to mention Drs' Barre & Montagnier from the Pasteur Institute and many others from ACTUP and other HIV support networks. There were also villains. The less said about Robert Gallo the better.

I liked that the author managed to dig into the background and personal lives of what were initially case studies. He enabled the reader to put a face to the statistic and thereby captured their humanity and suffering and our increased understanding of the human experience. On a seperate note Shilts also raises doubts over Gaetan Dugas status as patient zero. A label attributed to Dugas by AIDS researchers at the time. I and many others have also questioned this. If Dugas gave it to so many others who gave it to him...? . Probably not even he knew the answer. No doubt he will go down in history in a postscript as the most prolific serial viral infector of modern times. Sadly Randy Shilts is no longer with us having succumbed some years ago to the demon virus he knew so much about and wanted so much to beat. Vaya con dios.

Playright Paul Rudnick once fantasized in an essay of one day in the future coming across the last HIV molecule naked and quivering in some dark corner of a government laboratory. Take no prisoners...!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: AIDS: the definitive story
Review: In 50 years time when the HIV virus has long past its notoriety and is as treatable as the common cold historians will look back at this period of medical history and the defining chronicle of that time will be laid out in the pages of this book.From beginning to end the many firsthand accounts reveal in clinical detail what was happening at the onset of this plague not only in the gay community but in the wider world at large.The fear the panic the hysteria in the early 80's is almost palpable.That so many health professionals in the U.S. should act in such an unprofessional way is inconceivable,but it happened.There were fortunately a few unsung heroes in those early days:Dr Mary Guinan,Dr Tony Fauci,Larry Kramer from ACTUP,the staffs of the CDC & NHI and many others.There is also occasionally a villain.The less said about Dr Paul Gallo the better.That Shilt's story put a human face to all the statistics was what initially attracted me to his work.He writes a readable tome not loaded down with minutiae.It is a one-man protest against the ignorance of the american public and a staunch attempt to open their eyes.Sadly 20 years after it all began and we are only just starting to win the fight against the virus Randy Shilts is no longer with us having succumbed a few years ago to the disease he knew so much about and wanted so much to beat...He was one of the first of the anti-HIV warriors and for that alone we should mourn his passing. Vaya con dios.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wake up and read this book
Review: In a word this book is a nessecity.There are obviously still people who still ignore the Aids epidemic,this book would wake them up. An excellent telling of how this disease was brought about and discovered.And how homophobics and ignorance made the disease able to spread into our present day.This book hit close to home, my uncle was killed by this disease. Maybe if time were spent in the begining on how to control and cure this disease instead of fighting over it being a "gay" plauge,he might be alive today. People need to read this book and change the mistakes of the past.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: first the plague then the revolution...
Review: Its been almost 20 years since news of this dreadful disease first caught the worlds attention. Young gay men first in the gay capitals of San Francisco & New York and then elsewhere were falling mysteriously ill with dreadful complications from pneumonia and unsightly skin lesions. It was the start of "the gay plague" and an anti-gay hysteria that was to grip communities everywhere. These were the new lepers, but treated worse. Even by health professionals in the US top medical facilities who should have known better. It was not the nursing professions proudest moment. Fortunately 20 years later we know better mainly due to the journalistic efforts of one reporter named Randy Shilts. In his book Shilts chronicles the onset of the virus from africa to europe,the carribean and then the streets of americas largest cities. Its devastating effects on both the famous and the infamous as it cut across cultural racial and economic barriers. In this no one was immune. Shilts does not over whelm us with statistics but instead presents the human side of the disease in a dozen case studies of individuals infected with hiv from its onset to the inevitable outcome. The broadway choreographer, the socialite, the professional basketballer, the architect, the congressional aide, their stories are documented with an odd balance of passionate and clinical detail. The author captures their initial fears,hopes and acquiescence. In 20 years time when AIDS is as treatable as the common cold and other more virulent diseases plague our immune systems historians will look back at these times for a definitive chronicle on how it all began. They need look no further than the pages of this book. Perhaps my only reservation of the books findings is medical researchers reference at the time to canadian airlines steward Gaetan Dugas as "patient zero". I and many others have questioned this. If Dugas gave it to others then who gave it to him ? It is a puzzle which will no doubt intrigue medical detectives for generations to come. The truth is probably not even Dugas knew himself but he will probably go down in history as the most prolific viral infector of modern times. Randy Shilts himself had his own theories but sadly is no longer with us having succumbed some years ago to the disease he knew so much about and wanted so much to beat. The irony is that he died too soon to benefit from the array of anti-hiv drug cocktails now so effective and readily available to hiv sufferers in the US and the western world. Vaya con dios.

Playright Paul Rudinek once fantasized about one day in the future coming across the last hiv molecule alone and quivering in some dark corner of a government laboratory. No mercy...


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