![]() ![]() Some of those featured in the book are still alive (either through not contracting the virus or surviving long enough for effective treatments to be available), but many more die over the course of the book. Throughout the book, journalist David France draws on his own memories, as well as stories and documents from others who were present at the time. As someone who lived through this time (albeit as a child), it was interesting to get a lot more backstory on events that I vaguely remembered (the death of Rock Hudson, Ryan White appearing on the cover of People magazine) as well as learning more about the competing efforts to discover the cause of this disease and find effective treatments. Covering the time from 1981, when a cluster of gay men in New York city were diagnosed with a rare cancer, to 1996, when effective drug treatments were eventually developed, How to Survive a Plague is a comprehensive history of the AIDS crisis, focusing on the dual roles of scientists and activists in finding a cure. ![]() It was a very odd feeling to be reading a book called “How to Survive a Plague” as the US began closing down to prevent the spread of COVID-19. ![]()
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