Synopses & Reviews
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.
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.
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 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.
"A heroic work of journalism on what must rank as one of the foremost catastrophes of modern history."The New York Times
"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 workor fail to workin 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 complexitiesand many different human dimensionsof 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 bestand what will likely be the most controversialbook 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 strengthsand 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 responsesconfusion 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 lindifference, courage and determination. It is at once a history and a passionate indictment."--H. Jack Geiger, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"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 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 "Rivals in power and intensity, and in the brilliance of its reporting and writing, Truman Capote's In Cold Blood." --The Boston Globe "A heroic work of journalism." --The New York Times
Synopsis
With a new introduction by "Rolling Stone" national reporter and bestselling author William Greider, this modern masterpiece remains as compelling, heartbreaking, enraging, and critically important as ever.
Synopsis
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.
Synopsis
Upon it's first publication twenty years ago, And The Band Played on was quickly recognized as a masterpiece of investigatve reporting. An international bestseller, a nominee for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and made into a critically acclaimed movie, Shilts' expose revealed why AIDS was allowed to spread unchecked during the early 80's while the most trusted institutions ignored or denied the threat. One of the few true modern classics, it changed and framed how AIDS was discussed in the following years. Now republished in a special 20th Anniversary edition, And the Band Played On remains one of the essential books of our time.
Description
"Notes on sources": p. 607-613.
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), A
nd 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.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Dramatis Personae
The Bureaucracy
Prologue
Part I. Behold, A Pale Horse
1. The Feast of the Hearts
Part II. Before/1980
2. Glory Days
3. Beaches of the Dispossessed
4. Foreshadowing
5. Freeze Frames
Part III. Paving the Road/1981
6. Critical Mass
7. Good Intentions
8. The Prettiest One
9. Ambush Poppers
10. Golf Courses of Science
11. Bad Moon Rising
Part IV. The Gathering Darkness/1982
12. Enemy Time
13. Patient Zero
14. Bicentennial Memories
15. Nightsweats
16. Too Much Blood
17. Entropy
18. Running on Empty
19. Forced Feeding
20. Dirty Secrets
21. Dancing in the Dark
Part V. Battle Lines/January-June 1983
22. Let It Bleed
23. Midnight Confessions
24. Denial
25. Anger
26. The Big Enchilada
27. Turning Points
28. Only the Good
29. Priorities
30. Meanwhile
31. AIDSpeak Spoken Here
32. Star Quality
Part VI. Rituals/July-December 1983
33. Marathons
34. Just Another Day
35. Politics
36. Science
37. Public Health
38. Journalism
39. People
Part VII. Lights & Tunnels/1984
40. Prisoners
41. Bargaining
42. The Feast of the Hearts, Part II
43. Squeeze Play
44. Traitors
45. Political Science
46. Downbound Train
47. Republicans and Democrats
48. Embarrassed
49. Depression
50. The War
Part VIII. The Butcher's Bill/1985
51. Heterosexuals
52. Exiles
53 Reckoning
54. Exposed
55. Awakening
56. Acceptance
57. Endgame
Part IX. Epilogue/After
58. Reunion
59. The Feast of the Hearts, Part III
Notes on Sources
Index