Writing AIDS: Gay Literature, Language, and Analysis (Between Men-Between Women: Lesbian & Gay Studies)

This collection of essays offers a wide-ranging examination of the place of AIDS in gay activism, literature, film, news reporting and gay culture. The contributors stress the connection between language and moral responsibility.

The contributors to this book point out the difficulties in writing and talking about AIDS. For those who live in large metropolitan areas, AIDS awareness is increasing day by day, but for others AIDS is still a semiwhispered term with gay overtones. The essays in this collection were selected to reveal a wide range of complex issues, from the sometimes oblique obituaries of AIDS patients and the absence of the word AIDS in gay fiction, to the volatile issues of AIDS and minorities and the media's slanted portrayal of persons with AIDS. These are emotional essays, some written as memorials to friends who have died of AIDS. The pieces are intended to make readers consider how AIDS has become such a major player today and its role in our future. All libraries need Writing AIDS , and anyone who has difficulty talking about AIDS should own a personal copy. Highly recommended.
- H. Robert Malinowsky, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.