cover image In Absence of Angels

In Absence of Angels

Elizabeth Glaser. Putnam Publishing Group, $21.95 (318pp) ISBN 978-0-399-13577-4

In 1981, Glaser received blood transfusions following the birth of her daughter Ariel. Then in 1986, two years after a second child, Jake, was born, tests showed that Ariel had AIDS, contracted from her mother, who herself became infected via tainted transfusions, through breast-feeding. Only Glaser's husband Paul, of TV's Starsky and Hutch fame, is free of the virus that killed Ariel at age seven and remains a threat to her mother and HIV-positive brother. Glaser has become active in raising funds for AIDS research and has founded the Pediatric AIDS Foundation. With Palmer ( Shrapnel in the Heart ), she delivers a wrenching, detailed account of her family's tragedy. Photos not seen by PW. 50,000 first printing; first serial to People; Literary Guild featured alternate. (Feb. )