The Anarchist AIDS Medical Formulary

In 1984, Caulfield was hospitalized with a then-rare form of pneumonia now known to be an indicator of AIDS. A decade later, he doesn't consider himself a long-term survivor of AIDS, but someone with a workable plan of survival. Author of the San Francisco Sentinel 's ``HIV News'' column--adaptations of which form the backbone of this book--Caulfield and his research assistant Goldberg, an AIDS treatment activist and transsexual, seek to guide the aspiring AIDS survivor toward a new way of looking at the infection. This anthology of essays has one common thread: that AIDS is survivable. The book's purpose is to encourage the belief that restoration--partial or complete--of a compromised immune system is possible. Their guerrilla zeal and tactics have often put the authors at loggerheads with the medical establishment. The book is divided into two parts: the politics and realities of AIDS treatment research (which serves as an indictment of mainstream medical approaches) and alternative AIDS treatments (which provide theories, therapies and resources). The alternative remedies should be viewed with skepticism, but ``no one thing works for everybody, enough information is available so that everybody can find treatments that work for them.'' In sum, Caulfield and Goldberg write as though life itself depends on their message, and maybe it does. (Apr.)