Thursday, January 18, 2007

New book : My pet virus

Decker, S.
My pet virus : The true story of a rebel without a cure.
New York, Penguin, 2006
Call number: F 200 DEC 2006 (Click on call number to borrow this book!)
"Decker, a hemophiliac, learned at age 11 that he was HIV-positive. In his candid, raucous memoir, he recounts what it meant to grow up with his "pet virus" in the 1980s and 1990s. There's plenty of self-deprecation and no self-pity as he describes his first girlfriends and sexual encounters; the experience of meeting his favorite band, Depeche Mode, through the Make-a-Wish Foundation; and the process of gaining the confidence to "come out" and talk about his disease publicly, ultimately finding a career as a writer and speaker. Throughout, he's clear about his family's unwavering support and tough love ("Don't complain. The person a few rooms over may be taking a dirt nap tonight," his mother, who shares his dark humor, calmly remarks in the hospital); and his growing relationship with Gwen, the HIV-negative young woman who becomes his wife, is particularly poignant. There are too-few memoirs about living with AIDS, and this hilarious, outspoken, and vibrant story will instruct and inspire its readers."

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