 | A WRITER'S WIT |  F. von Schlegel |
My Book World
Shilts, Randy. And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic. New York: St. Martin’s, 1987.
I am indeed glad that I finally read this book. I tried to in 1987, but it has sat on my shelf, I think, because at the time it was just too painful. The news, what little legitimate news there was, seemed full of what Shilts calls AIDSpeak. What I failed to realize was that through his book I was reading history: the pokiness of the Reagan administration and the congress to take action: the controversy of closing gay bath houses (mostly on the coasts); the quarrel between US and French scientists over who discovered HIV first; what at the time were only hundreds of young gay men dying each week (later thousands); the religious right proclaiming we were getting our comeuppance instead of dispensing Christ-like kindness to treat our suffering. It’s all here in this book, and I, without checking my facts, believe little has changed. He got it right, got it recorded, before he himself succumbed to the disease in 1994. A hero and a journalistic master.
Coming Next:
No Posts Until March 21, 2023
TUES 3/21: A Writer's Wit | Phyllis McGinley
WEDS 3/22: A Writer's Wit | Jeffrey Nicholas Monsarrat
THURS 3/23: A Writer's Wit | Kim Stanley Robinson
FRI 3/24: My Book World | Dedman/Clark's Empty Mansions
I am indeed glad that I finally read this book. I tried to in 1987, but it has sat on my shelf, I think, because at the time it was just too painful. The news, what little legitimate news there was, seemed full of what Shilts calls AIDSpeak. What I failed to realize was that through his book I was reading history: the pokiness of the Reagan administration and the congress to take action: the controversy of closing gay bath houses (mostly on the coasts); the quarrel between US and French scientists over who discovered HIV first; what at the time were only hundreds of young gay men dying each week (later thousands); the religious right proclaiming we were getting our comeuppance instead of dispensing Christ-like kindness to treat our suffering. It’s all here in this book, and I, without checking my facts, believe little has changed. He got it right, got it recorded, before he himself succumbed to the disease in 1994. A hero and a journalistic master.
Coming Next:
No Posts Until March 21, 2023
TUES 3/21: A Writer's Wit | Phyllis McGinley
WEDS 3/22: A Writer's Wit | Jeffrey Nicholas Monsarrat
THURS 3/23: A Writer's Wit | Kim Stanley Robinson
FRI 3/24: My Book World | Dedman/Clark's Empty Mansions
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