Rate this book

The Wisdom Of Whores: Bureaucrats, Brothels, And The Business Of AIDS (2008)

by Elizabeth Pisani(Favorite Author)

4.08 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0393066622 (ISBN13: 9780393066623)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

review 1: This was a fascinating look at the human and political complexities involved in public health efforts to deal with HIV. Though the author seemed at times to want to shock the reader (to some extent you really can judge this book by its title and cover), overall the discussion was just frankly honest. I thought it was a wonderfully nuanced take on the many ways of making the best of imperfect situations, whether it's collecting data on people who don't fit neatly into single risk categories, convincing donors and governments to pay attention to the right problems, or finding ways to encourage safer behavior when totally safe behavior is just not going to happen. I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever been frustrated by bureaucracy or irrational (i.e. human) beha... morevior, even if they've never had a particular interest in public health or international development work.
review 2: Candid doesn't even begin to describe Pisani's writing style. This is the side of the AIDS story that you often don't get to hear - and while disconcerting at certain points ( i.e. hearing about how millions of aid dollars are wasted on programs are wasted on ineffective interventions), it's important for us as readers and us as citizens of the world to know the truth on what's going on, on the ground.... So that we may learn from the mistakes and attempt to fix the shortcomings. A MUST read for anyone interested in Public Health and especially epidemiology - it's good to know what the "common pitfalls" of a field are - and undoubtedly, with so much real world experience, Pisani enumerates many of them. less

Download links for: The Wisdom of Whores: Bureaucrats, Brothels, and the Business of AIDS

Advertising