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How to Survive a Plague
- The Story of How Activists and Scientists Tamed AIDS
- Narrated by: Rory O'Malley
- Length: 24 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: LGBTQ+, LGBTQ+ Studies
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Summary
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.
Critic reviews
What listeners say about How to Survive a Plague
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Ellie Moore
- 08-01-21
A piece of history that needs to be shared
Finding myself listening to this felt very timely given current circumstances, but I can truly say the compassionate, brutal honesty France shares in this book should be shared with more people.
O'Malley narrates the book well, keeping pace consistent and giving every section the tone befitting its contents.
A long listen but one very worth the time. Eye-opening to a piece of history I knew very little about, if I retain even a fraction of the information in this book, my knowledge about the HIV/AIDS epidemic will be better than anything taught to me at school in recent years. Only 30 years since some of these events and so much is being forgotten.
5 people found this helpful
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- Ian Fallon
- 07-10-18
This is essential listening.
There were many moments throughout listening to this book that I had to stop and cry either out of anger, sadness, hope, joy or pride. David France's first hand experience and access to key figures throught his research for this book made me feel like I was living the story today whether I liked it or not.
3 people found this helpful
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- Angus Fraser
- 01-07-22
Fascinating and tragic
The book was fascinating, but also, unsurprisingly, depressing both in terms of what these people went through and just how relevant the treatment of these people is today.