Undisclosed Secrets Of The AIDS Epidemic
by
Michal Milstein and Marlin Marynick
About This Title
Gene and Michael have had full-blown AIDS for over thirty years. No
victim has survived the disease, which has killed 600,000 Americans and
over 25 million people worldwide, longer than they have. But their
survival is secondary to a greater question: How have they managed to
live?
Undisclosed is an evocative and heartfelt look into two men's journeys
since their diagnoses. They have witnessed the lifespan of the disease
from its beginnings in Manhattan’s gay community to its global
proliferation, and have watched it burn itself in America’s collective
subconscious. Their bodies archive decades of treatments, dissections,
relapses, and recoveries, and have been referred to as “the Rosetta Stones
of AIDS.” The book interweaves diary entries, expository nonfiction,
community testimonials, and original artwork to paint a portrait of the
greatest plague of our time.
It also includes extensive narratives from Dr. Alan Cantwell and Dr. Mark
Katz, two prominent AIDS physicians whose experiences and attitudes
mimic those of Gene and Michael. Theories on the origin of AIDS
repeatedly come into question, and the authors leave no stone unturned,
weighing statistics against experience, bioinformatics against conspiracy.
Although the mystery may never be completely solved, Undisclosed sheds
light on the misunderstandings--and lies--of the dawn of the epidemic.
This book, however, explores a greater mystery: the elusiveness of meaning among chaos. It is an ethnographical account of contemporary America, of its greatest innovations and accomplishments, through the eyes of its greatest victims. But they are not voices of disease—they are voices of healing, and all of the frustrations, triumphs, lies, and truths that come with it. Whether or not a reader has been personally touched by AIDS, he or she will be able to deeply connect with every character's search for comfort and meaning in the modern age.