My Wish Lists Login / Join

When AIDS Began

San Francisco and the Making of an Epidemic

By: Michelle Cochrane

Write A Review

Paperback | 13 November 2003 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
290 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.86 x 15.24 x 1.55

Paperback

$125.39

or 4 interest-free payments of $31.35 with

Ships in 5 to 7 business days

As the AIDS crisis reaches new heights globally with no cure in the immediate future, the time is ripe to step back and examine the roots of this epidemic. In "When AIDS Began," Michelle Cochrane constructs the making of the disease and expels many of the misconceptions that surround it. By examining the early outbreaks in San Francisco, she unfolds the "creation" of this disease in one geographic location and then traces how and why major claims about the transmission of HIV were made, extrapolated and then disseminated to the rest of the world - all important factors in understanding.
Through her fascinating analysis and research, Cochrane dispels the myths of AIDS by interviewing patients, public health officials, workers and gaining access to medical charts and documents from the San Francisco Public Health Department. She comes to question some of the orthodoxies of AIDS: mainly saying it's a "gay" disease spread by sexual contact. She boldly suggests that in the tracking of the disease sexual transmission is more often assumed rather than empirically documented. Instead, she suggests that IV drug use and socio-economic status may have played a much greater than acknowledged role among the risk factors for those who were infected.
"When AIDS Began" is an original and controversial addition to the ongoing dialogue on the disease. Clearly pushing boundaries, this is an important history of an epidemic that continues to plague the globe.

Industry Reviews

"Excellent-controversial, argumentative, and extremely well researched, When AIDS Began brings a hidden trove of information on the handling of the first cases of AIDS in San Francisco out to the light of day. Fascinating in its detailed accounts of these first stories and how surveillance workers actually make their decisions on who has HIV or AIDS and why. There isn't another book like it." -- -Nancy E. Stoller, author of Lessons From theDamned: Queers, Whores, and Junkies Respond to AIDS
"At last an impeccably researched book on AIDS that critically examines the untested assumptions and misleading language that were built into the very fabric of AIDS research from its outset. A must read for anyone interested in the ways that linguistic, sociological and anthropological issues structure the nature of medical investigation and the way we think about disease." -- -Robert Root-Bernstein, author of Rethinking AIDS: TheTragic Cost of Premature Consensus
"Cochrane's powerful book revisits a crucial turning point in recent history-the birth of the AIDS epidemic and the discursive formation that arose so quickly to encompass it. Erudite and unsettling, her work disrupts our certainties and shows how rapidly this apparatus congealed." -- -Paul Rabinow, author of Anthropos Today:Reflections on Modern Equipment

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $79.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.