Out in the Mountains

The Aids Reader by Nancy McKenzie

Ed Peters

Balanced, comprehensive, and direct all
describe Nancy Mckenzie’s excellent
book, The AIDS Reader: Social, Polit-
ical, Ethical Issues. Articles and view-
points from established names such as
Larry Kramer from ACT—UP, Dr. An-
thony Fauci from the Center for Disease
Control, David Barr of the Lambda Le-
gal Defense and Educational Fund are
included with the Supreme Court’s
opinion of Bowers vs. Hardwick (1986),
Carol Levine, Peter Arno, GMHC, and
Nancy Stoller Shaw to mention only a
few.

Thirty-one articles from a variety of au-
thors are collected under six sections:
The HIV Virus and its Epidemology,
The Social Context of HIV Infection,
HIV and the Right to Health Care, HIV
and the Issues of Prevention, HIV and
the Political Crisis of the Private, and
’’HIV and the Role of the Community.
Mckenzie’s objective is to provide a
complete book on the current status of
AIDS. She builds balance by including
different author’s standpoints. Each ar-
ticle stresses a position, while each sec-
tion brings together these distinctive po-
sitions into a complete and current
theme of infonnation and action. For ex-
ample, in the first section, The HIV Vi-
rus and its Epidemology, the reader may
want to ignore the “scientific” jargon of
this biological threat. Yet each article is
readable and flows into the next one.
This section ends with Stephen Jay
Gou1d’s frightening article, “The Ter-
rifying Normalcy of AIDS”.

McKenzie then shifts into the social
context of AIDS. She brings us to the
new and often hidden face of women,
minorities, drug addicts, and the home-
less with AIDS. By identifying these

special and at—risk groups, she moves us
to the extremely important topic of Na-
tional Health Care as it relates to AIDS.
She includes articles from Karen Davis
and Diane Rowland’s article on the un-
insured and underserved with the tes-
timony of David Barr from the Lambda
Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Prevention and HIV screening issues are
discussed historically and ethically.
McKenzie leads these and other related
issues of gay and lesbian rights, AIDS
demonstration, the right to privacy into
the fourth section, HIV and the Political
Crisis of the Private. Richard Mohr’s ar-
ticle and arguments for civil rights and
the sexual minorities is worthwhile
reading for everyone. McKenzie con-
cludes the book by addressing the every-
body’s responsibility to assault and end
the multi—faceted threats of AIDS. Ed
Wolf’s touching “A week on ward 5A”
concentrates on the emotional, social,
and spiritual costs and rewards of being
an AIDS volunteer.

Picking up this book may be in-
timidating because the size and the va-
riety of its content. I recommend that
you read what you like, each article is a
gem to a different reader. Don’t read the
book cover to cover. Instead, focus on a
section, title or author that appeals to
you, gradually reading other articles to
get a wider scope of McKenzie’s intent
of providing balanced and current opin-
ions and facts on the AIDS crisis. She
provides us a reference book of current
AIDS information and viewpoints, its
history and lessons learned, and its fail-
ures and successes. This book is a val-
uable health resource. It is not “just for
lesbians and gay men”, but it is for eve-
ryone —— service providers, educators,
activists, caregivers and patients, and es-
pecially for you. V

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