And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, 20th Anniversary Edition by Randy Shilts

Product Details

Synopsis

The classic bestselling work of investigative journalism that changed the public perception of 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.

Library Journal

SOC SCI This shocking and illuminating account by the best-selling author of Conduct Unbecoming: Gays and Lesbians in the U.S. Military (Audio Reviews, LJ 8/93) remains one of the most important books of the last two decades. Beginning with the alleged ``pa tient zero''--a French Canadian flight at tendant whose coast-to-coast liaisons were pivotal in spreading the AIDS virus throughout the United States--Shilts documents the epidemic's first onslaught, as well as the attendant reactions (or nonreactions) by the media, national health organizations, mainstream America, and the gay community. Although the audiobook was originally released in 1988, a recent HBO original movie based on the book and the success of Conduct Unbecoming should revive interest in it. Actor Willem Dafoe narrates with calm assurance, and Shilts reads a new afterword in which he points out that the band continues to play. Until an unabridged version is available, all libraries should have a copy of this seminal work.-- Mark Annichiarico, ``Library Journal''

Biography

RANDY SHILTS was one of the first journalists to recognize AIDS as an important national issue and, in the early 1980s, he began to report on AIDS full time for the San Francisco Chronicle, making him the only journalist to do so. He was also the author of The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk and Conduct Unbecoming: Gay and Lesbians in the U.S. Military.  Shilts died of AIDS-related complications in early 1994.