Noted figures in the world of politics, the arts and academia are unanimous in their energetic praise for Sean Strub’s new memoir, Body Counts.
““Body Counts is a powerful, brutally honest account of one man’s remarkable trek through the hope, fear, rage, and inspiration unleashed by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It tells a story that must be told before it is forever lost. My students couldn’t put it down.” ”
“Just read my friend @SeanStrub's@BodyCountsBook. DON'T MISS IT. What a pioneer & hero, what a story...and it's ours”.
-Evan Wolfson-Founder and President of Freedom to Marry / Author of Why Marriage Matters (Simon & Schuster 2004)
“On June 5, 1981, the day the AIDS epidemic was first recognized by the Centers for Disease Control, Sean Strub was with my close friend, gay activist Vito Russo, in Denver, Colorado. Body Counts is a powerful account of the epidemic’s early years and the subsequent three decades. It encompasses the tragedy of lives lost young, as we lost Vito, as well as the triumph of empowerment, activism and survival. Body Counts is a page-turner with moving insight and fresh analysis told in a compelling and highly personal style.”
“This take-no-prisoners memoir has the quality of a suspenseful page-turner, and will keep you reading until the final sentence.”
“Read Body Counts by Sean Strub and share one American’s story of growing up with an instinct for justice, then finding oneself in an epidemic whose tragedy is multiplied by bias. As a man who survived sexual abuse, rape and an HIV diagnosis, Strub embodies the shared interest of women and men who fight for human rights, and against any government or person intruding on our bodies. By taking us with him on his journey from a conservative family in Iowa to the heart of a global movement for human rights, Sean Strub gives us ideas, strength and heart in our own journey.”
“Sean Strub has been a columnist, editor, publisher, theatrical producer, congressional candidate, conservationist, hotelier, and for most of that time an outspoken advocate in the fight against AIDS as well. His Body Counts is a stunning memoir—candid (at times startlingly so), courageous and humane. Much like the author himself.”
“Sean Strub’s Body Counts is an important document for several reasons. His direct and honest prose relates a familiar story of growing self-awareness, coming of age and coming out in a fresh and compelling manner. The big surprise comes when one recognizes how dramatic the machinations of drug trials, power politics and the building of a grass roots movement can be.”
“What a life! From the Senate elevator to Studio 54 to Andy Warhol and Tennessee Williams, Gore Vidal and John Lennon to the famous demonstration inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral… this is the compelling life and near-death story of Sean Strub, of thousands lost to HIV-AIDS, and thousands more living with it whom his activism helped save. Wow.”
“An absorbing read. It not only vividly recounts the personal odyssey of one man’s struggle with AIDS, but places it—with remarkable objectivity—within the larger story of those years. Strub is a dispassionate, reliable guide whose directness and honesty create considerable impact. Anyone would profit from reading this book.”
“While Sean Strub resists seeing himself as a ‘hero,’ this inspiring book proves he is the voice of a community of people who are exactly that…. This is an important book, a vital history of ordinary people rising up and demonstrating the potential inherent in this extraordinary country…. This is the most personally powerful and authentic portrayal of our collective history that I have read since Paul Monette’s On Borrowed Time.”
“Sean Strub has written more than just a memoir. Body Counts pulls back the curtain on a hidden half-century of American history…. The tale of a life lived in high-resolution, high-intensity, saturated Technicolor.”
“This is obviously Sean Strub’s story and a very particular and personal history, but it’s also our story and our history. He is a wonderful storyteller and he brings so many people vividly to life. And I love, too, that he doesn’t let the book become AIDS nostalgia. I fear that too much that’s written about those horrific years omits the horror, so we get the camaraderie of the trenches, but not the snipers or the gas attacks or the barbed wire or the callousness of so many or the evil or the ghastly suffering. Strub also does such a great job of showing how life also went on amidst so much death. I very much admire his writing—how clean and powerful it is.”
“From early struggles against AIDS to later collective acting up, Sean Strub’s lively, gossipy memoir is also deeply moving history.”
“Body Counts—so smart and affecting, idealistic and clear-eyed—chronicles Strub’s own personal experience with HIV, and, at the same time, explores how culture shapes us and how we can shape it in turn. Strub’s memoir, like Strub himself, is an inspiration.”
“Body Counts is a compelling page-turner, chronicling Sean Strub’s fight for justice and struggle to survive. He provides fresh insights into the foundations of today’s LGBT movement, an inside personal history of the AIDS epidemic and an eye-opening and horrifying depiction of the growing trend of HIV criminalization. To understand today’s HIV epidemic, read Body Counts. Sean is a born activist, widely revered by people with HIV and I’m glad he’s finally told his story.”
“Elegantly written, moving and powerful, this book from one of the most important advocates for people with HIV/AIDS is eye-opening. In these times, when the continuing need for services for populations that suffer the most seems almost lost from public sight, this is an important reminder.”
“The education and evolution of Sean Strub is a riveting and moving tale that needed to be told, and has life-lessons for us all. Body Counts is an important document in the history of our era that challenges conventional wisdoms and speaks truth to power.”
“A brilliantly told story of a life at the center of the historical period defined by the AIDS epidemic. Moments of struggle are illuminated by a tale of despair and death, gay self-transformation, love, hope, and modest bravery. More than a survivor’s tale, a gripping story of a movement that changed the soul of our world.”
