In the first major book on AIDS, San Francisco Chronicle reporter Randy Shilts examines the making of an epidemic. Shilts researched and reported the book exhaustively, chronicling almost day-by-day the first five years of AIDS. His work is critical of the medical and scientific communities' initial response and particularly harsh on the Reagan Administration, who he claims cut funding, ignored calls for action and deliberately misled Congress. Shilts doesn't stop there, wondering why more people in the gay community, the mass media and the country at large didn't stand up in anger more quickly. The AIDS pandemic is one of the most striking developments of the late 20th century and this is the definitive story of its beginnings.
From Publishers Weekly
"An exhaustive account of the early years of the AIDS crisis, this outlines the medical, social and political forces behind the epidemic's origin and rapid spread," reported PW . "The book stands as a definitive reminder of the shameful injustice inflicted on this nation by the institutions in which we put our trust . . . a landmark work." 200,000 first printing; author tour. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
YA Investigative journalist Shilts em ploys a case study approach to expose the alarms, disregard, and misinforma tion about AIDS that has been promoted by the government, gay and straight or ganizations, news agencies, and medical researchers. He indicts the political agendas of government officials, ego- driven scientists, and profit-conscious blood bank executives, all of whom im peded early AIDS research. In addition, he gives a fascinating account of the detective work needed in discovering new diseases. Although focusing his re ports on San Francisco and New York's gay communities and research centers in Atlanta and the Washington, D.C. area, Shilts dramatically explores the interna tional problem of AIDS. Students will use the index for assigned papers, but it is the volume of information and the vi gnettes about real individuals that make compelling cover-to-cover reading. Alice Conlon, University of HoustonCopyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
In one of the most important books of the year, Shilts, who has been covering the AIDS crisis since 1981, sets a gripping narrative of human tragedy against a background of political and scientific controversy. His implication: the AIDS epidemic in the United States might have been averted had it not been for resistance from the government, scientists, the media, and the gay community. Shilts has the ability to draw the reader hypnotically into the personal lives of his characters. That, and his monumental investigative effort, would have made this a best-selling novelif the contents weren't so horribly true. Highly recommended. Judith Eannarino, George Washington Univ. Lib., Washington, D.C.Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The New York Times Book Review, H. Jack Geiger
And the Band Played On is about the kind of people we have been for the past seven years. That is its terror, and its strength.
From AudioFile
Randy Shilts traces the AIDS epidemic in America. In a quiet, level baritone William Dafoe relates the initial consternation and confusion amid the medical establishment, the growing recognition of the seriousness of the affliction, and the political and medical maneuvering in response to it. Breaking Dafoe's narration in a bright, clear soprano, Lauri Garrett recounts the statistics of the disease. In an updated "Afterword," Randy Shilts summarizes the shocking status of the disease as of 1993. Certainly a remarkable listening experience both in content and in "sound." M.G.S. An AUDIOFILE Earphones Award winner (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
Review
"A heroic work of journalism on what must rank as one of the foremost catastrophes of modern history."--The New York Times
"Stunning . . . An impressively researched and richly detailed narrative."--Time
"Rivals in power and intensity, and in the brilliance of its reporting and writing, Truman Capote's In Cold Blood."--The Boston Globe
"A monumental history."--The Washington Post Book World
"The most thorough, comprehensive exploration of the AIDS epidemic to date . . . It is fascinating, frightening, and essential reading."--San Francisco Sentinel
"A textbook on how institutions work--or fail to work--in the face of such a threat."--San Francisco Examiner
"A lucid and stunning indictment of public policy toward the vicious disease . . . A valuable work of political history."--Business Week
"Shilts successfully weaves comprehensive investigative reporting and commercial page-turning pacing, political intrigue, and personal tragedy into a landmark book . . . Its importance cannot be overstated."--Publishers Weekly
"A popular history of the early years of the AIDS crisis, the book conveys in detail the political complexities--and many different human dimensions--of the story. Reading Shilts, you wonder who will die next. You worry whether this terrible disease can ever be controlled. And you begin to feel anger at what Shilts portrays as the federal government's dithering . . . Shilts has produced the best--and what will likely be the most controversial--book yet on AIDS. Though many of the details in the book are familiar to veteran reporters, Shilts does not shy away from naming names and casting blame. He writes with passionate conviction, which is one of the book's strengths--and also, of course, a sound reason for some skepticism."--Jim Miller, Newsweek
"Shilts, a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle who has covered AIDS full-time since 1983, takes us almost day by day through the first five years of the unfolding epidemic and the responses--confusion and fear, denial and indifference, courage and determination. It is at once a history and a passionate indictment."--H. Jack Geiger, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"A heroic work of journalism on what must rank as one of the foremost catastrophes of modern history."--The New York Times
"Stunning . . . An impressively researched and richly detailed narrative."--Time
"Rivals in power and intensity, and in the brilliance of its reporting and writing, Truman Capote's In Cold Blood."--The Boston Globe
"A monumental history."--The Washington Post Book World
"The most thorough, comprehensive exploration of the AIDS epidemic to date . . . It is fascinating, frightening, and essential reading."--San Francisco Sentinel
"A textbook on how institutions work--or fail to work--in the face of such a threat."--San Francisco Examiner
"A lucid and stunning indictment of public policy toward the vicious disease . . . A valuable work of political history."--Business Week
"Shilts successfully weaves comprehensive investigative reporting and commercial page-turning pacing, political intrigue, and personal tragedy into a landmark book . . . Its importance cannot be overstated."--Publishers Weekly
"A popular history of the early years of the AIDS crisis, the book conveys in detail the political complexities--and many different human dimensions--of the story. Reading Shilts, you wonder who will die next. You worry whether this terrible disease can ever be controlled. And you begin to feel anger at what Shilts portrays as the federal government's dithering . . . Shilts has produced the best--and what will likely be the most controversial--book yet on AIDS. Though many of the details in the book are familiar to veteran reporters, Shilts does not shy away from naming names and casting blame. He writes with passionate conviction, which is one of the book's strengths--and also, of course, a sound reason for some skepticism."--Jim Miller, Newsweek
"Shilts, a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle who has covered AIDS full-time since 1983, takes us almost day by day through the first five years of the unfolding epidemic and the responses--confusion and fear, denial and indifference, courage and determination. It is at once a history and a passionate indictment."--H. Jack Geiger, The New York Times Book Review
Book Description
By the time Rock Hudson's death in 1985 alerted all America to the danger of the AIDS epidemic, the disease had spread across the nation, killing thousands of people and emerging as the greatest health crisis of the 20th century. America faced a troubling question: What happened? How was this epidemic allowed to spread so far before it was taken seriously? In answering these questions, Shilts weaves weaves the disparate threads into a coherent story, pinning down every evasion and contradiction at the highest levels of the medical, political, and media establishments.
Shilts shows that the epidemic spread wildly because the federal government put budget ahead of the nation's welfare; health authorities placed political expediency before the public health; and scientists were often more concerned with international prestige than saving lives. Against this backdrop, Shilts tells the heroic stories of individuals in science and politics, public health and the gay community, who struggled to alert the nation to the enormity of the danger it faced. And the Band Played On is both a tribute to these heroic people and a stinging indictment of the institutions that failed the nation so badly.
About the Author
Randy Shilts was born in 1951, in Davenport, Iowa. One of the first openly gay journalists hired at a major newspaper, he worked for the San Francisco Chronicle for thirteen years. He died of AIDS in 1994 at his home in the Sonoma County redwoods in California. He was the author of The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk (1982), And the Band Played On: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic (1987), and Conduct Unbecoming: Lesbians and Gays in the U.S. Military (1993). He also wrote extensively for many major newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Newsweek, Esquire, The Los Angeles Times, and The Advocate. And the Band Played On was made into a docudrama that was broadcast on HBO in 1993.
And the Band Played on: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic ANNOTATION
This "heroic work of journalism" (New York Times) reveals how the federal govrenment put budget considerations ahead of the nation's welfare.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Why was AIDS allowed to spread unchecked during the early 1980s while our most trusted institutions ignored of denied the threat? In this brilliant, now classic expose of one of the most important issues of our time, Randy Shilts does nothing less than answer this frightening question. And the Band Played On reveals how the federal government put its budgetary concerns ahead of the nation's welfare, how health authorities placed political expediency before public health, and how some scientists valued international prestige more than saving lives. This masterpiece of investigative reporting has become the very foundation for all ongoing debate about the greatest medical crisis of the twentieth century.
SYNOPSIS
Why was AIDS allowed to spread unchecked during the early 1980s while our most trusted institutions ignored of denied the threat? In this brilliant, now classic exposé of one of the most important issues of our time, Randy Shilts does nothing less than answer this frightening question.
And the Band Played On reveals how the federal government put its budgetary concerns ahead of the nation's welfare, how health authorities placed political expediency before public health, and how some scientists valued international prestige more than saving lives. This masterpiece of investigative reporting has become the very foundation for all ongoing debate about the greatest medical crisis of the twentieth century.
Art & Photography
Book Info
