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Desiree Rushing must reconcile her crack addiction and HIV infection with the fate of her city, family, and the black church. David deShazo, a white AIDS worker in Alabama, fights to prevent the American South from becoming the epidemic’s new epicenter. And Mario Cooper, a gay, infected son of the black elite confronts the boundaries of American race politics in Washington, D.C. Seamlessly interweaving personal stories with national policy, Levenson indelibly captures this devastating epidemic and illuminates its potential to expand our understanding of race in America.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780385722346","publication_date":"20050208","publisher":"Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group","slug":"the-secret-epidemic","subtitle":"The Story of AIDS and Black America","title":"The Secret Epidemic"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"HEA039020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"HIV & AIDS","score":0.8607,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"SOC008010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"African Studies","score":0.7662,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"HEA039020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"HIV & AIDS","score":0.8607,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"SOC008010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"African Studies","score":0.7662,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"HEA028000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Healthcare Issues","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HEA039020","confidence_band":"high","label":"HIV & AIDS","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"SOC001000","confidence_band":"high","label":"African American Studies","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"HIV & AIDS","score":0.8607,"slug":"hiv-aids"},{"label":"African Studies","score":0.7662,"slug":"african-studies"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers who enjoy HIV & AIDS","Good for readers interested in civil rights","Good for readers who enjoy HIV & AIDS and African Studies."],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["David France"],"book_id":"9780307745439","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780307745439.jpg?v=20260417T232332Z%3A2026-04-17T23%3A23%3A32Z","score":13.4551,"title":"How to Survive a Plague","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780307745439"},{"authors":["Marcus Garvey","Bob Blaisdell"],"book_id":"9780486437873","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780486437873.jpg?v=20260417T232332Z%3A2026-04-17T23%3A23%3A32Z","score":10.8087,"title":"Selected Writings and Speeches of Marcus Garvey","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780486437873"},{"authors":["Frantz Fanon","Richard Philcox"],"book_id":"9780802143006","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780802143006.jpg?v=20260417T232332Z%3A2026-04-17T23%3A23%3A32Z","score":10.7256,"title":"Black Skin, White Masks","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780802143006"},{"authors":["James Ciment","James D. 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