28: Stories of AIDS in Africa by Stephanie Nolen

[alexsam]

I am about 1/2 way through and this book is amazing. It is a book of personal stories of 28 people in Africa who have been touched by AIDS. It is intellegent and written for a general audience. It is particularly wonderful because it confronts head-on this attitude in the US and Europe that somehow, Africans dealing with AIDS is different. That so many horrible things happen there that AIDS is just another one that can't be solved, that seems so distant, that we have nothing in common with people in sub-Sahara Africa. Stephanie Nolen tells stories of all different Africans living with AIDS and in the stories you are really forcefully confronted with the humanity of it. Reading them, some are the traditional media images of refugees or rural African poverty, but for many of her subjects, if you substitue Chicago for Narobi or Atlanta for Dar es Salaam- it could be you. Mothers, fathers, workers, wives, educated, passionate- a human tale of the epidemic and the people we have chosen to ignore.

Wow. Really. This is something that you won't be able to put down for so many reasons- the compelling stories, the unbelievable statistics, the writing, the complexity and at the same time the simplicity of it all, her honesty about why AIDS is devastating Africa....

Wow.

[Imogen]

I was in the bookshop earlier today, I'm sure that I saw that title in one of the sections I was looking at. I will definitely pop back tomorrow to have another look. It certainly seems like an interesting read.

Thanks for the tip


Peace

[alexsam]

Yes, its new (current). It's copyright is 2007 and the library had it in new releases...

[superstella]

I read it a month or so ago, loved it. It was a very quick read too, the way the stories are presented.

[bluedaaria]

She was in Toronto recently speaking at an event put on by U of T's department of public health....she was great! Very passionate, and refreshing and even funny. I have read the book and it is a MUST read! Her writtings for the Globe and Mail (Canadian national newspaper) are eye opening. I'm a big fan of hers.

[mammastar2]

I went to a talk involving a couple of the women featured in the book, and can't wait to read it.