And the Band Played On
Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
In 1981, the year when AIDS came to international attention, Randy Shilts was employed by the San Francisco Chronicle as the first openly gay journalist dealing with gay issues. He quickly devoted himself to reporting on the developing epidemic, trying to understand the cultural, medical and political impact of the disease on the gay community and United States society as a whole.
Extensively researched, weaving together personal stories with political and social reporting, And the Band Played On is a masterpiece of investigative reporting that led to Randy Shilts being described as "the pre-eminent chronicler of gay life" by The New York Times. Shilts exposed why AIDS was allowed to spread - while the medical and political authorities ignored (and even denied) the threat. It was awarded the Stonewall Book Award, became an international bestseller translated into 7 languages, and was made into a major movie in 1993 starring Richard Gere and Sir Ian McKellen.
And the Band Played On is one of the great works of contemporary journalism, and provides the foundation for the continuing debate about the greatest medical epidemic faced in our time.
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 with a clarity and narrative drive that should appeal to an audience far broader than previous books on the topic. San Francisco Chronicle reporter Shilts successfully weaves comprehensive investigative reporting and commercial page-turner pacing, political intrigue and personal tragedy into a landmark work. Its importance cannot be overstated: few topics merit more attention from the general public, or, as Shilts's account makes appallingly clear, have been as successfully and deliberately shielded from the public at such a high cost of human lives. What starts as a medical mystery and the moving chronicle of a relentless killer soon evolves into an expose of deception and ineptitude at the highest levels of government. The tragedies of AIDS are many, and they continue to multiply, and Shilts conveys the hideous suffering and the heartbreak of so many senseless deaths. But his detailed examination of the health establishment, the government and the press reveals the emergence of a more treacherous menace in the initial failure of our guardian institutions to respond to the crisis, despite the heroic efforts of a handful of individuals in hard-hit New York and San Francisco and at the Centers for Disease Control. Shilts presents one alarming story after another without letting his own passionsevident in the sheer enormity of the projectcompromise the excellent reportage. The reader rises to fury at the apathy, silence and deception that have characterized the official response. Shilts concludes with Rock Hudson's public affliction in 1985, a watershed in the nation's awareness of the crisis. And the Band Played On could prove to be an equally important milestone, freeing vital funding and generating an even greater outpouring of sympathy and outrage. The book stands as a definitive reminder of the shameful injustice inflicted on this nation by the institutions in which we put our trust. 50,000 first printing; $50,000 ad/promo; author tour.
