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  • How to Survive a Plague

  • The Story of How Activists and Scientists Tamed AIDS
  • By: David France
  • Narrated by: Rory O'Malley
  • Length: 24 hrs and 28 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (10 ratings)

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How to Survive a Plague

By: David France
Narrated by: Rory O'Malley
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Publisher's Summary

Winner of The Green Carnation Prize for LGBTQ literature
Winner of the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT nonfiction
Shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize 2017

How to Survive a Plague by David France is the riveting, powerful and profoundly moving story of the AIDS epidemic and the grass-roots movement of activists, many of them facing their own life-or-death struggles, who grabbed the reins of scientific research to help develop the drugs that turned HIV from a mostly fatal infection to a manageable disease. Around the globe, the 15.8 million people taking anti-AIDS drugs today are alive thanks to their efforts.

Not since the publication of Randy Shilts's now classic And the Band Played On in 1987 has a book sought to measure the AIDS plague in such brutally human, intimate, and soaring terms.

Weaving together the stories of dozens of individuals, this is an insider's account of a pivotal moment in our history and one that changed the way that medical science is practised worldwide.

©2017 David France (P)2017 Macmillan Digital Audio

Critic Reviews

"This superbly written chronicle will stand as a towering work in its field." ( Sunday Times)
"Inspiring, uplifting and necessary reading." (Steve Silberman, author of Neurotribes, Financial Times)

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Heartbreaking and inspiring account of AIDS crisis

I bought this book because I really liked the documentary by the same name and was not disappointed. I was unsure if the book was worth my time as I had already watched the documentary several times. I am glad I decided to give it a go. It goes much more in-depth and has more time to cover more ground.

I did have to take several breaks while listening to this book because of the emotional weight of the story. I definitely cried a lot throughout. From the frustrating accounts of political incompetence, maddening bureaucratic time wasting and heartbreaking tales of homophobia. The story of discrimination and lack of compassion for gay people during the AIDS crisis is truly astounding and devastating. The fighting spirit of the LGBT community and AIDS activists is inspiring and yet horrifying that such a drawn out and consistent fight was even needed in the first place.

It's an important piece of history and absolutely worth the read.

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