Release Date: August 2nd, 2022

Genre(s): Non-fiction, social science

Publisher: Celadon Books

Pages: 352

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Celadon Books and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced finished copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis

From preeminent LGBTQ scholar, social critic, and journalist Steven W. Thrasher comes a powerful and crucial exploration of one of the most pressing issues of our times: how viruses expose the fault lines of society.

Having spent a ground-breaking career studying the racialization, policing, and criminalization of HIV, Dr. Thrasher has come to understand a deeper truth at the heart of our society: that there are vast inequalities in who is able to survive viruses and that the ways in which viruses spread, kill, and take their toll are much more dependent on social structures than they are on biology alone.

Told through the heart-rending stories of friends, activists, and teachers navigating the novel coronavirus, HIV, and other viruses, Dr. Thrasher brings the reader with him as he delves into the viral underclass and lays bare its inner workings. In the tradition of Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste and Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, The Viral Underclass helps us understand the world more deeply by showing the fraught relationship between privilege and survival.

Review

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many disparities in infections and healthcare became more apparent to the general population. Why, on infection maps, were infections much more prominent in underprivileged areas? What happens to those who depend on assistance from others in their everyday lives? What factors influenced whether an infected person would seek medical care? And finally, what caused countermovements regarding masking and vaccinations across the country?

In The Viral Underclass, author Steven Thrasher combines his own experiences with his knowledge of not only COVID-19 but also HIV/AIDS and others. Using examples of disadvantaged populations, Thrasher demonstrates the differences (and consequences) of access to healthcare and the many factors that lead to such disparities. Breaking each factor into its own chapter, The Viral Underclass is well-organized and does well to break down what is quite a complex subject.

I don’t often prefer the injection of personal experiences, but Thrasher’s input was incredibly relevant and serves as another example of the disparities highlighted in this book. Therefore, this book would be more interesting to those that are looking for a less scientific and more conversational approach to writing style. Overall it’s an incredibly timely read, although always relevant.

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