This sure to be controversial book addresses how sex
and drugs have turned the global epidemic of HIV
into a billion-dollar-a-year industry. Epidemiologist
Elizabeth Pisani takes a no-holds-barred approach to
finding out exactly why 40 million people are living
with HIV and 28 million have already died of AIDS
when we have the knowledge, the money, and the
means to wipe out the disease in 90 percent of the
world. She makes a convincing argument that the
measures needed to control the disease are not
impossible, just unpopular. "It would mean spending
lots more of the available money on prostitutes,
addicts, and gay guys, and lots less on school kids,
pregnant women, and church groups. It would mean
making fun things (sex, drugs) safe, instead of trying
to make safe things (abstinence, monogamy) fun."
"This is an utterly fascinating book."
—Stephen Lewis, former UN envoy on AIDS in Africa
"Highly readable."
—The Financial Times
"The Wisdom of Whores is like a gale of fresh air being blown through the musty smelling bullshit that has surrounded the whole HIV/AIDS issue from day one."
—Blogcritics
"Delivers a strong, well-told and believable message – would that it makes a difference."
—Kirkus Reviews