What You Can Do to Avoid AIDS

by Earvin "Magic" Johnson

Magic Johnson gives a clear, honest, and exact message about the HIV virus and offers advice on how to deal with and avoid AIDS.

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 8, 1992

About the author

Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. is an American retired professional basketball player and current president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played point guard for the Lakers for 13 seasons. After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA draft by the Lakers. He won a championship and an NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in his rookie season, and won four more championships with the Lakers during the 1980s. Johnson retired abruptly in 1991 after announcing that he had contracted HIV, but returned to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, winning the All-Star MVP Award. After protests from his fellow players, he retired again for four years, but returned in 1996, at age 36, to play 32 games for the Lakers before retiring for the third and final time.

Since his retirement, Johnson has been an advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention and safe sex, as well as an entrepreneur, philanthropist, broadcaster and motivational speaker. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_J...]

Reviews

[Pearl Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book in a pile of books that my local library was planning to discard. For that reason, I went into it assuming it'd be full of outdated information, only valuable as a time capsule that showed how the USA was dealing with the AIDS crisis 30+ years ago.

To my surprise, it held up really well. As the quote on the cover suggests, it's straightforward and practical. It meaningfully discusses taboo topics (sex, sexuality, drugs, death, abuse, poverty and homelessness) without overplaying it to try and seem edgy/cool to its younger audience.

[Drivetime.Fm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Q: Speaking of spoken words, the 1993 Grammy in that category went to a famous professional athlete for his educational book What You Can Do to Avoid AIDS. What professional athlete won a Grammy for his book What You Can Do to Avoid AIDS?

[Randy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't think this came out in hardback, but I probably would have been forced to read it if there was: my mom had me and my brother read this fresh off the press in 1992. Guess it is better to scare your kids from any activity that might put them in the remotest of danger of the "new plague" at the earliest age and in the language of streets than take any chances. Unfortunately the story of this virus makes Magic's words as poignant today as they were 15 years ago.

[Vanessa Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This guy left something out of this book! I follow basketball and you never know what a person is capable of. I must say that Magic told the world what to avoid after revealing he was infected with HIV. He also, have money to buy the best treatment and drugs.

Sometimes we need to practice avoidance before, so that we do not have to write how to avoid.

[Marcello · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ero così appassionato di basket NBA, e Magic era uno dei miei idoli, che a 12 anni comprai questo suo libro, nonostante parlasse dell'AIDS. Una lettura comunque istruttiva, anche se forse un po' prematura per me all'epoca...