And the Band Played on
Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic
by Randy Shilts · first published 1987
65% recommend35% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Deeply researched, detailed narrative of the early AIDS epidemic in the US, covering how it spread and was mishandled by officials, media and institutions; recommended for readers wanting a thorough history.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
The blueprint of 20th century investigative journalism. Tracing the course of HIV/AIDS through society; from its earliest as then unknown incarnation, to the height of this 1980s hysteria – the death of Rock Hudson: Shilts's book should be in every High School's final academic examinations coursework reading list, as a compulsory item. An unregrettable read.
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Perhaps these most detailed account of the AIDS epidemic in the US is "And the Band Played On" by Randy Shilts. He too died of it.
on “HIV Is Reported Cured in a Second Patient” ↗…it's spread too. It was recognised as early as 1983 that GRID wasn't a gay disease, hence AIDS. If you would like to read more I believe the definitive history of the early days of the AIDS epidemic is "And the band played on" by Randy Shilts. I honestly think that if the governments of the world stopped allowing corporations to put sugar in everything then the problem of obesity will fix itself. I'm not going to promote…
on “Why Do Obese Patients Get Worse Care? Many Doctors Don't See Past the Fat” ↗My experience has been that we are not generally very good at propagating our own history! On that note, if you haven't read Randy Shilts' And the Band Played On, I strongly recommend it. The events it describes are, I think, the single strongest influence on everything about US (at least) gay culture that's thus far followed.
on “The largest study to date on the genetic basis of sexuality (2019)” ↗…by Barbara Demick is also about life in North Korea but focuses less on the party elite and more on the suffering of the general population. Heart-wrenching, horrific, well-researched and depraved. And the Band Played on by Randy Shilts about the origins and spread of HIV & AIDs is another fantastically written and educational medical themed nonfiction about the development of the AIDS epidemic and the world spread and…
on “Where is the scrutiny over FDA’s role in the overdose epidemic?” ↗I’d recommend “And The Band Played On” for a thoughtful and well-researched narrative of the early AIDS crisis. There was plenty of blame to go around, including for the CDC and the gay communities.
I'm currently reading And The Band Played On which is a detailed account of the rise of the AIDS epidemic and how it was ignored and mishandled back in the 80s. Definitely check it out if this subject interests you.
on “Rare Cancer Seen In 41 Homosexuals (1981)” ↗…breadth. I read a fascinating book about rabies that would've been sad and pithy if it were condensed into an essay. And historical-y books in particular die on the page without detail—there's a reason And The Band Played On is, what, six hundred pages? Also, everyone's different, but I'm not sure OP realizes that some people read for the experience of reading, not just the information contained within.
on “The Trouble with Books” ↗It's too bad that you're replying to a comment on a deeply researched book (And the Band Played On) with a link to a shallow and slanted retrospective justification for lack of leadership. The original book criticizes then-president Reagan, but also the media (specifically including the NYT) and elements…
on “Rare Cancer Seen In 41 Homosexuals (1981)” ↗…with it head on. To me it was background noise of red ribbons, charity walks, and celebrity tributes on television. When I went to college one of my mentors (an immunology researcher) gave me a copy of And the Band Played On (http://fave.co/1LMbq5A) and it opened my eyes to the real physical, emotional, and political history of AIDS in the United States. I recently saw the movie adaptation and it was decent but the book…
on “Last Men Standing: the luck to survive AIDS, and the misfortune to live on” ↗…also many extraordinary, irreplicable works: A Pattern Language, Thinking Fast and Slow, The Landscape of History, The Modern Firm, The Diffusion of Innovations, Bowling Alone, The Life You Can Save, And the Band Played On, and on and on.
on “The Need to Read” ↗If you want to read more about this history in the US, I cannot recommend And the Band Played On highly enough. The book deals with the early history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and touches on the issues related to blood donations and transfusions given the technical limitations at the time. It's also…
on “Alzheimer’s cases tied to no-longer-used medical procedure” ↗I'd thought that "Patient Zero" was jargon from the world of public health, but it apparently became widely used only after the publication of "And the Band Played On," a 1987 bestseller about the AIDS epidemic by Randy Shilts: Back in 1984, the term Patient Zero was not normally used to describe an outbreak’s first case, said Dr. Jaffe, a co-author of the new Nature…
on “A typo skewed the history of HIV in the US and vilified an innocent man” ↗…use an article from 2007 to explain away gay sexual behavior during the AIDs epidemic of the 1980s, it is clear that you are trying to spin a narrative instead of actually look at events. In the book "and the band played on" by Shilts, the number of partners recorded during the 80s among the minority of gay men who had AIDS was regularly in the hundreds. This is clearly more than most people -- gay or straight. Like I said,…
on “Coronavirus may mean automation is coming sooner than we thought” ↗Randy Shilts' book And the Band Played On spends a lot of time on exactly this problem during the early days of AIDS. Closing the bathhouses was controversial and resisted for too long.
on “Likely cause of mystery child hepatitis outbreak found” ↗It's been a while since I've read the book but "And the Band Played On" paints a pretty sad picture about all the missed opportunities to save lives in the early years of the epidemic, due to (admittedly complicated) politics. And not just among politicians and government…
on “Rare Cancer Seen In 41 Homosexuals (1981)” ↗