Fight AIDS! How Activism, Art, and Protest Changed the Course of a Deadly Epidemic and Reshaped a Nation

Before he was a renowned AIDS activist, Larry Kramer (1935–2020) was a gay man urgently seeking answers for the mysterious illness he was living with. “I don’t think anybody is going to give a damn, and it’s really up to you guys to do something,” his doctor told him, a declaration that kick-started Kramer’s—and many others’—advocacy efforts. Mixing wrenching, atmospheric narrative with frank, informative prose, Long (King: A Life) chronicles such endeavors in this timely U.S.-focused volume about the AIDS epidemic. Dividing the work into 10 parts—bookended by a section of basic AIDS facts and an epilogue—the author first outlines queer history as it stood before the outbreak began, starting with the Stonewall Riots. Subsequent chapters detail events from 1980 to the late 1990s, including how the unknown illness caused widespread terror within the gay community as well as confusion among health professionals. As more about the disease is uncovered, activist organizations such as the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power advocate for queer rights and healthcare reform by creating clinics and protesting in front of the White House, historic moments that Long captures with reverence. It’s a compassionate offering that celebrates the community’s perseverance just as loudly as it mourns its losses. Images of the “visual art that raised awareness about AIDS” open each chapter; b&w photographs appear throughout. Ages 14–up. (June)