Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'
And the Band Played On: Politics, People, And the AIDS Epidemic, by Randy Shilts
4 reviews
sakisreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
3.0
A hard hitting, harrowing read. This is probably the book that took me the longest to read this year, as there are so many names and perspectives to contend with. It was astonishing that the administration and media didn’t cover the AIDS epidemic from the get go, and Shilts doesn’t hold back on his criticism of that. However, his portrayal of Gaetan Dugas (dubbed ‘Patient Zero’) felt aggressive and it felt unfair that Dugas could not say anything back, as he passed away in 1984.
Overall, this was a good but quite dated look into the AIDS epidemic. I think I would like to find a more sensitive perspective into this topic 😳
Overall, this was a good but quite dated look into the AIDS epidemic. I think I would like to find a more sensitive perspective into this topic 😳
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Terminal illness
spaghett17's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.5
This is a heartbreaking book. It really highlights the mishandling of the AIDS pandemic by the US government. This is a book full of US politics, which may or may not be what you are looking for.
The one gripe I have is that it is a heavy and slow book that can get kind of dull/hard to read at times. I would recommend having a (or two or three) lighthearted read going on at the same time.
The one gripe I have is that it is a heavy and slow book that can get kind of dull/hard to read at times. I would recommend having a (or two or three) lighthearted read going on at the same time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Sexual content
emmeline's review against another edition
personally, I didn't vibe with the writing style. that combined with the size of the book and the small font size made this difficult for me to actually pick up and want to finish. I feel like a learned a lot from what I did read, specifically from the medical perspective and how doctors and researchers reacted.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Death, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Drug use, Grief, Homophobia, and Sexual content
fawns's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
5.0
After watching Pose on Netflix I picked up And The Band Played On to learn more about the AIDS crisis. I was too young to know what was going on when it first started and have continued to know very little. A huge personal oversight.
This book was an excellent read. It is comprehensive and obviously meticulously researched when it comes to the epidemiology and financial aspects of AIDS. I had no idea of the parallels that could be drawn between the way AIDS was handled by the US and Reagan and the way Covid was handled by Trump. Handled in that it was allowed to run rampant with little intervention to protect people by the federal government.
My criticism is that the author focused very little of his writing on how AIDS affected communities of color in the '80s, focusing instead on the white community.
It also would have been instructive to be able to learn more about the front-line activists that did the vast majority of the work to make changes in policy and safety.
Overall, if willing to make the time investment (it's a little over 600 pages), this is a well-done public health history book to read and learn from.
This book was an excellent read. It is comprehensive and obviously meticulously researched when it comes to the epidemiology and financial aspects of AIDS. I had no idea of the parallels that could be drawn between the way AIDS was handled by the US and Reagan and the way Covid was handled by Trump. Handled in that it was allowed to run rampant with little intervention to protect people by the federal government.
My criticism is that the author focused very little of his writing on how AIDS affected communities of color in the '80s, focusing instead on the white community.
It also would have been instructive to be able to learn more about the front-line activists that did the vast majority of the work to make changes in policy and safety.
Overall, if willing to make the time investment (it's a little over 600 pages), this is a well-done public health history book to read and learn from.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, and Homophobia
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