The AIDS Generation: Stories of Survival and Resilience

by Perry N. Halkitis

For young gay men who came of age in the United States in the 1980s, the HIV/AIDS epidemic was a formative experience in fear, hardship, and loss. Those who were diagnosed before 1996 suffered an exceptionally high rate of mortality, and the survivors -- both the infected individuals and those close to them -- today constitute a "bravest generation" in American history. The AIDS Stories of Survival and Resilience examines the strategies for survival and coping employed by these HIV-positive gay men, who together constitute the first generation of long-term survivors of the disease. Through interviews conducted by the author, it narrates the stories of gay men who have survived since the early days of the epidemic; documents and delineates the strategies and behaviors enacted by men of this generation to survive it; and examines the extent to which these approaches to survival inform and are informed by the broad body of literature on resilience and health. The stories and strategies detailed here, all used to combat the profound physical, emotional, and social challenges faced by those in the crosshairs of the AIDS epidemic, provide a gateway for understanding how individuals cope with chronic and life-threatening diseases. Halkitis takes readers on a journey of first-hand data collection (the interviews themselves), the popular culture representations of these phenomena, and his own experiences as one of the men of the AIDS generation.This riveting account will be of interest to health practitioners and historians throughout the clinical and social sciences -- or to anyone with an interest in this important chapter in social history.Cover photo courtesy of Fire Island Pines Historical Preservation Society.

Genres: Nonfiction, LGBT, Queer, History

265 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an academic study of the AIDS Generation, gay men who came of age in the 1970s and 1980s and quickly were forced to confront HIV and AIDS among their friends, lovers, and selves. Halkitis uses interviews from fifteen men as his primary sources, drawing out common themes from their narratives, which he then amplifies using evidence from scientific studies. He also draws from his own experiences as a member of this cohort. This book explores personal qualities that led these subjects to resiliency and survival in the face of infection, though most never discount the role that simple luck played.

This generation dealt with bullying and outsider status when growing up in a homophobic society. They were rebuffed and ignored by the medical and political establishments when AIDS was identified as the agent of death in their communities. As the documentary "How to Survive a Plague" shows (Halkitis references this movie several times), this community became specialists in the field of HIV and AIDS research and taught the rest of the world how to treat it and live with it. Now in their late fifties and sixties, this generation has already faced many of the developmental tasks of aging adults--diminishing physical capabilities, medical conditions, and trying to wrest meaning from their lives.

Halkitis honors the AIDS generation for their grit and courage. He speculates that the difficulties each had growing up and coming out contributed to their inner strength. This is the larger theme to his work--that this cohort can teach the rest of us about aging, confronting disease and medical conditions, and resiliency.

[Phillip · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could rate this book higher. The story of the AIDS Generation is certainly a very noble and interesting topic worthy of research. Unfortunately, I do not think the author/researcher highlighted the stories of these men so that they shined through. There are 15 men with whom he completed in-depth interviews and with some exceptions they all sort of meshed together due to interspersing them thematically. He did not edit their quotes and left in 'Ums" and long pauses which made it a chore to get through. Finally, his commentary was interspersed with pop-culture references that I thought somewhat cheapened the material. I suppose he could have been going for a mass appeal, but quoting Kelly Clarkson in his conclusion did not sit right with me. The best part of the book was when he kept a page-long story from one of his participants and I finally felt like I got to know this particular man and his story. I understand use of the thematic approach which highlighted the commonalities of the men, but it also kept the men at a distance and dampened the impact. When I finished I wished that some of the more eloquent writers of the AIDS Generation that the author mentioned such as Paul Monette were around to weigh-in on this topic.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took me about forever to read. I started it sometime after Tell the Wolves I'm Home, because I thought it was fitting, and put it down, picking it up again at the beginning of the month and spent the rest of the month trying to read it.

It's not that this was a bad book, not at all. In fact, it was an interesting look at the AIDS epidemic from the eyes of men who, while being HIV positive, did not yet get full-blown AIDS. I could tell how passionate Halkitis was about helping those with the disease, and his interviews with the men seemed to actually help them.

But I'm not a science person, at all, and the writing was very scientific. I wanted more from the actual stories of the men than I got, and was quickly sick of the repetition in the book. Some of the men were referenced more than others, and I sometimes had a hard time keeping them all straight. I think I also read the term "youth-obsessed culture" like five times over the span of two pages once. But at the same time, this is all personal preference. This isn't a novel, it's more along the same lines as a study published in an academic journal. It's not supposed to be artfully written.

Continue reading this review on my blog here: http://bookwormbasics.blogspot.com/20...

[Madison Anholt · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is obvious that the stories of men who suffered during the AIDS epidemic need to be told. I read this memoir by Perry Halkitis to learn more about the 1980’s and the people who suffered. This book wasn’t the best choice to learn about those things. Halkitis interviews 15 HIV positive men and attempts to tell their stories. He doesn’t do it very well. The formatting is awkward and the story-telling isn’t fluid. I wish he would have done justice to the stories but reading this book was a bumpy ride I didn’t enjoy very much. The themes and stories are still there, just choppy and hard to find. I give this book 3 out of 5 stars for the idea but if you want to learn more about the AIDS generation, I would suggest looking for another book.

[R.J. Gilmour · Rating 3 out of 5]

"We carry deep wounds from this time. The death memories haunt us. In the last year of the plague alone, nearly as many young Americans died of AIDS as perished in the Vietnam War.

Soldiers returning from Indochina were said to have war trauma. And us? Ours is a condition we know so little about. Some are calling it AIDS survivor syndrome, with its unfortunate acronym. Halkitis gives it affirmation for the first time here. He writes: "In trust, the gay men of my generation, the AIDS generation-all of us, HIV-positive or negative, across every race, ethnicity, and culture, from every part of our country, from stockbroker to dancer to salesman-were robbed of a life filled with youthful frivolity, with endless optimism and hope. And as middle-aged men, we are a group traumatized and fatigued from 30 years of war." x

"Many of these men prepared for the deaths of those around them and their own deaths when they were in the 20s, 30s, and 40s. But they did not die. The Miami Herald recently reported about the grading of this AIDS Generation, indicating, "Once resigned to die, the afflicted get older" (Walker, 2011, p.5A), and in a powerful op-ed in The New York Times (2011), Mark Trautwein described his living with AIDS as "the death sentence that defined my life." 7

"After years of being prodded and poked, filling endless vials with their own blood, being swabbed, and being scanned, the men who participated both in our preliminary work and in the AIDS Generation interviews just wanted to be heard. For many of the men, the experience of being interviewed and asked questions about their lives was an honour and a point of reflection." 16

[Mills College Library]

614.59939 H173 2014