Being Positive: The Lives of Men and Women with HIV

by Robert Klitzman

Being Positive gives us the clearest picture we have of what life is like for people who have been diagnosed HIV positive. Based upon unique in-depth interviews with a broad cross-section of patients, the book is remarkable for its candor and compassionate analysis. The people speak for themselves. “Through these pages,” Robert Klitzman writes, “I have tried to present a picture―a group portrait―and a sense of the fabric and texture of these individual's lives. Their stories taught me much about how people find meaning and cope with apparently overwhelming difficulties.” In looking for patterns in these lives, Dr. Klitzman has focused first on the problems these new patients face―the uncertainties, losses, and taboos; then on how they adapt―their new life in “HIV-land,” their spiritual beliefs, work and volunteerism, family relations, drugs and sex, and denial psychology. Finally he considers the implications of this major new medical problem and how it has forced us to examine so many personal, political, and institutional issues surrounding illness and the threat of death. Being Positive is not only a humanizing antidote to statistical studies of HIV and AIDS, it is an important benchmark in understanding the lives and experiences of the people who are affected.

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Brian Kovesci · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book in Detroit because I was curious about the HIV experience in the mid 1990's.

This is a collection of interviews organized in an attempt to find common threads through the experiences of those living with HIV/AIDS in the 90's. The author organized everyone with HIV together to find these commonalities. I think a more responsible method of organization would have been within subgroups of patients. He even called out the different segments of people he interviewed; homosexual men, male intravenous drug users and female intravenous drug users. These can not be the only groups of people affected by the virus, and I'm sure there would be distinctions between these groups which would correlate to their reaction to and attitude toward the virus.

Anyway. I'm grateful to have come out when I did.