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

A deadly mystery and one reporter's fight to expose the truth during the earliest days of the AIDS epidemic. With hospital beds filling up, the clock was ticking. . . . What would it take to wake up the nation? A masterful and eye-opening historical account

San Francisco, 1980. Randy Shilts—biographer of Harvey Milk and the first openly gay journalist hired by the mainstream media—receives a disturbing call at the San Francisco Chronicle. The caller, a Los Angeles patient, is being treated for what seems to be a rare form of skin cancer. As Shilts investigates, he uncovers a troubling pattern: The illness appears to affect only homosexual men, with early cases linked to a Castro-district bathhouse. And a meeting with an infectious disease researcher confirms his worst fears—the so-called “gay cancer” is far more widespread and complex than anyone realizes. Forbidden from reporting on it directly, Shilts turns to sensationalist fake news to force action against the unfolding HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Shilts's relentless pursuit of the truth would change the course of history, exposing the crisis the world tried to ignore. With this graphic novel biography—equally engaging, insightful, and flamboyant—the creators bring to the fore a story that remains as crucial as ever and deserves our attention.