{"product_id":"all-the-young-men-9781409189121","title":"All the Young Men","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eErin Brockovich meets Dallas Buyers Club, All The Young Men is a gripping and triumphant tale of human compassion, telling the true story of a young single mother who finds herself driven to the forefront of the AIDS crisis, and who risks everything to give victims back their humanity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy friend Ruth Coker Burks is one of the most amazing people I know. The care she gave HIV-positive gay men in and around our hometown of Hot Springs, Arkansas during the desperate early days of the AIDS crisis helped them live and die with dignity in the face of stigma and discrimination. In \u003ci\u003eAll the Young Men\u003c\/i\u003e, Ruth tells their stories and hers with the same warmth, wit, grace, and gumption that I have admired for decades. This book will make you love her as much as I do. * FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eDeeply moving memoir [that] honours the extraordinary life of Ruth Coker Burks and the beloved men who fought valiantly for their lives during a most hostile and misinformed time... a must read\u003c\/p\u003e * RU PAUL *\u003cbr\u003eIt's a tale of high drama and mesmerising detail, but also of breath-taking courage and compassion [...]a beautiful book, catching [Ruth's] Southern sass and charm. * The Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003eIt's a brighter story of human nature [...] this is a paean to making friendships across boundaries, to being kind even when the cost is nearly unbearable. * The Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eshocking but ultimately uplifting... an extraordinary tale, and its publication now in the midst of a very different pandemic - one in which compassion appears to be universal - resonates in a way that makes it all the more powerful. * Evening Standard *\u003cbr\u003ea remarkable tale of suffering, kindness and courage... vivid portrait of this community, which never lost hope and which looked after its own, got dressed up and found joy amid the tragedy. * i newspaper *\u003cbr\u003eit's [...] a reminder of the goodness in people and that we have come through worse things before. At its heart, it's a story of overcoming fear. And, right now, that might be just what we need. * Irish Sunday Independent *\u003cbr\u003eA \u003cb\u003ebrilliantly evocative memoir\u003c\/b\u003e about the 1980s pandemic some people would still sooner forget - and about a woman who could have easily turned the other cheek. \u003cb\u003eMore Dolly Parton than Mother Teresa\u003c\/b\u003e, Ruth Coker Burks doesn't try to paint herself as a heroine: just someone who couldn't help but do the right thing for hundreds of men dying alone of AIDS. Ru Paul was right: it's \u003cb\u003ea must-read\u003c\/b\u003e. * VIV GROSKOP *\u003cbr\u003eA \u003cb\u003emoving\u003c\/b\u003e, i\u003cb\u003enspiring testament to one woman's courage, love and kindness\u003c\/b\u003e in the midst of a deadly hate-filled pandemic. * Peter Tatchell *\u003cbr\u003eA \u003cb\u003etruly incredible story\u003c\/b\u003e told with the most fullest \u003cb\u003eheart warming honesty\u003c\/b\u003e. Ruth is an \u003cb\u003einspiration\u003c\/b\u003e. * CARIAD LLOYD *\u003cbr\u003eKnow this will be an incredible important read... * SIMON SAVIDGE, Savidge Reads *\u003cbr\u003eThis \u003cb\u003eastonishing modern-day Good Samaritan story\u003c\/b\u003e will move you to tears of sadness and outrage, but also buoy you. For Coker Burns is a do-gooder with sass. \u003cb\u003eAnd hers is a story of ordinary but heroic human empathy that we could all do with reading right now\u003c\/b\u003e. * CAROLINE SANDERSON, The Bookseller *\u003cbr\u003eIn this gripping account, Ruth Coker Burks explains how she became an 'accidental activist' [...] Her own family life and friendships were tested to the limit by this work, but her story highlights the transformative power of kindness.' * WOMAN *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAll The Young Men\u003c\/i\u003e was extraordinary - she's extraordinary. Love in action. * SARAH WINMAN *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA powerful memoir\u003c\/b\u003e... Burks's \u003cb\u003espirited, straightforward prose\u003c\/b\u003e balances the heartbreak of her story with just enough humor and toughness. \u003cb\u003eA must-read \u003c\/b\u003efor anyone interested in narratives of front-line responses to the early AIDS crisis as well as personal accounts of kindness and determination. * Library Journal, starred review *\u003cbr\u003eBurks' vivid memories of 'my guys' and the trials she endured fighting against prejudice offer \u003cb\u003ea portrait of courageous compassion that is both rare and inspiring\u003c\/b\u003e . . . [\u003cb\u003eA] deeply moving, meaningful book\u003c\/b\u003e. * Kirkus Reviews *\u003cbr\u003eAnecdotes of small-town gay bars and drag queen rivalries add levity to tales of hardship and sacrifice-crosses set ablaze on her lawn, her young daughter ostracized at school . . . This \u003cb\u003eworthy account offers as much bitter as sweet\u003c\/b\u003e. * Publishers Weekly *\u003cbr\u003eIf you are hungry for a humane approach to an epidemic, \u003cb\u003eread this astonishing book\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e * RICHIE JACKSON, author of Gay Like *\u003cbr\u003eThroughout the memoir, it's \u003cb\u003ehard not to fall in love with Burks\u003c\/b\u003e for her \u003cb\u003ebig-heartedness\u003c\/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003eenduring sense of humor in the face of suffering\u003c\/b\u003e...As Burks forges a path alongside these vulnerable men, \u003cb\u003eher embrace of education and rejection of bigotry light the way forward for us all\u003c\/b\u003e * Book Page *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eAll The Young Men \u003c\/i\u003eis \u003cb\u003ean urgent story that needs to be told\u003c\/b\u003e about the early years of AIDS in the American South. From her first moving encounter with an abandoned young man hours before he died, Ruth Coker Burks cares for ill gay men and fights homophobia with compassion, wit, courage and righteous anger. It's \u003cb\u003einspiring and compelling\u003c\/b\u003e to read of her battles against indignities and intimidation, bigoted families and churches, and demeaning health care. The reader cheers her on when Coker Burks finds both opponents and allies in her work. She writes of Jimmy, Howard, Douglas, Danny, Neil, Tim and Jim, Marc, Bob and Phil, Chip, Luke, Angel, Jerry, Misty, Billy and all her 'guys': '\u003cb\u003eI wanted them to be counted, to have their lives matter.' \u003ci\u003eAll The Young Men \u003c\/i\u003eachieves that beautifully, memorably, in their honour\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e * ROBERT HAMBERGER, author of A Length of Road *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn extraordinary story of an extraordinary woman\u003c\/b\u003e fighting for the rights of people with AIDS - and for the very acknowledgement of their existence - in her native Arkansas, in the early years of the crisis. Challenging, and sometimes changing hostile attitudes of individuals, communities, church and state \u003cb\u003eshe battled with courage, wit, knowledge, compassion, and a heart of solid gold\u003c\/b\u003e for the local gay community and for those gay men who, coming home to die, were rejected by their families. \u003cb\u003eBecause for Ruth, this was love in action - it was the right thing to do.\u003c\/b\u003e She and her daughter Allie became family with 'her guys'; \u003cb\u003ea simply astonishing memoir\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e * KATE CHARLESWORTH *\u003cbr\u003ethis gripping account [...] highlights the transformative power of kindness. * Woman \u0026amp; Home *\u003cbr\u003eA \u003cb\u003ebeautifully written\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003cb\u003emoving account\u003c\/b\u003e of a time that I remember all too vividly. I'm a long-term survivor with almost thirty years facing stigma, discrimination and often rejection. We need to remember how badly the world at large behaved towards a small group of people who often died alone and in fear, we also need to honour those few who offered love and support at that time. \u003cb\u003eA deeply emotional read\u003c\/b\u003e. * JUNO ROCHE *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAll The Young Men\u003c\/i\u003e is extraordinary and so is the woman whose story this is. You just want to hug her and all the young men she fought for * DAMIAN BARR *\u003cbr\u003eA story of ordinary but heroic human empathy -- CAROLINE SANDERSON * The Plymouth Herald *","brand":"Orion Publishing Co","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48739085025623,"sku":"9781409189121","price":11.07,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781409189121.jpg?v=1720051118","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/all-the-young-men-9781409189121","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}