Bitter Pill: Randy Shilts and the Dawn of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic

Pioneering reporter Randy Shilts fights to expose the truth during the earliest days of the AIDS epidemic.With hospital beds filling up, the clock is ticking. . . . What will it take to wake up the nation?San Francisco, 1981.Drawn from true events, this graphic novel follows Randy Shilts-biographer of Harvey Milk and one of the first openly gay journalists hired by the mainstream press-as he receives a chilling call at the Chronicle: a Los Angeles patient is being treated for a rare and aggressive cancer.As Shilts digs deeper, a disturbing pattern emerges.The illness seems to strike only gay men, with early cases linked to a Castro-district bathhouse.A meeting with an infectious disease researcher confirms his worst fear: this so-called “gay cancer” is neither rare nor isolated-it’s the beginning of a national health crisis.With those in power slow to respond, Shilts resorts to bold tactics to force attention on the unfolding HIV/AIDS epidemic. His relentless pursuit of the truth would