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Title: Big Shot: Passion, Politics, and the Struggle for an AIDS Vaccine by Patricia Thomas ISBN: 1-891620-88-6 Publisher: PublicAffairs Pub. Date: 18 September, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (4 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Compelling Story of Disease Solutions in a Complex Society
Comment: Patricia Thomas writes a phenomenal book of science, of politics, of a deadly disease, intertwined with business and the age-old struggle of societal good vs. personal/business gain. I was at first daunted by the size of the book alone, but the writing is so clear, so concise, so reader-friendly that it is an easy read. This is a must read for everyone interested in finding solutions to science-society issues such as AIDS. It is a must read for every health care professional and medical researcher, as well. As a science/health writer myself, I also highly recommend it as a teaching tool for how to write science for the lay person.
Rating: 5
Summary: Big Shot: Finally, science writing you can dance to!
Comment: I think "Big Shot" is the first important nonfiction work of the 21st century. With a clarity and an exuberance not often found in books about hard science, Patricia Thomas explains how politics, human frailty and corporate greed have prevented us from finding a vaccine for AIDS. Comparisons with previous books about AIDS and public policy don't exactly do justice to "Big Shot." If books must be categorized, Thomas' scrupulous research sometimes places this book with top ranking medical journals; but the wonderful writing -- you can almost dance to Thomas' prose -- places it among the better mysteries. In the hands of a lesser writer, the workings of DNA, retroviruses, surface antigens and hard-working proteins would cause one's eyes to glaze over. Instead, I found myself turning pages with Evelynwoodesque speed to get to the next development and the next, wondering which young researcher would win the race to the vaccine goal. Thomas has raised the bar for future books about medical research.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Call for Unity
Comment: Sept. 11 has had a galvanizing effect in reminding Americans that planet earth is really a small place where whatever affects one person ultimately affects us all. The emergence of AIDS in the early 1980s might also have united Americans to fight a common enemy. Might have. But the truth, so compellingly told by Ms. Thomas, is that personalities and politics (both personal and national), prejudice and posturing got in the way of mounting a cohesive campaign. As a result, we are still far from stopping AIDS. Sure, treatments are better, but most of the world cannot afford treatment.
What makes "Big Shot" especially timely is that, as America prepares to fight the "new war," more military personnel will likely be exposed to the AIDS virus. When the GIs line up for vaccinations and grimace comically for the camera, as our fathers and grandfathers did for previous wars, protection against the AIDS virus won't be part of the cocktail. Because there is no vaccine against AIDS.
It's a pretty depressing scenario, but Ms. Thomas retains a wonderfully upbeat message with the subtext "that was then, this is now, so let's move forward."
Besides, she tells a helluva entertaining story.
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Title: Shots in the Dark: The Wayward Search for an AIDS Vaccine by Jon Cohen ISBN: 0393322254 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: December, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: The River : A Journey to the Source of HIV and AIDS by Edward Hooper ISBN: 0316371378 Publisher: Back Bay Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts ISBN: 0312241356 Publisher: Stonewall Inn Editions Pub. Date: 01 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: History of AIDS by Mirko D. Grmek, Russell C. Maulitz, Jacalyn Duffin ISBN: 0691024774 Publisher: Princeton University Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 1993 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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Title: Viral Sex: The Nature of AIDS by Jaap Goudsmit ISBN: 0195124960 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 November, 1998 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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