This is not only a memoir but a unique perspective into the life of an HIV-positive doctor who is working to treat patients as he fights his own battle. Reading this book is almost like sitting down with the author and having a conversation. This is an emotional read that allows us to walk along with the doctor on his journey. Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

What an unique read. It's not everyday you read a memoir FROM a doctor about his battle with HIV. It definitely gives you an one-of-a-kind look at life with HIV/AIDS and the battles with it.

This book was informative, educational, and heartbreaking all at once.
Definitely read it.

A very honest account of treating AIDS patients and being HIV positive yourself. Honestly written and thought provoking. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the arc of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on my review.

Such a truly heartfelt story, I would like to thank the author for sharing it with us.

As a physician Andrew Faulk faces the AIDS epidemic as a Dr to those affected and a patient with the HIV virus. I have read previous books about the epidemiology and the treatment options for HIV and AIDS but this a story of love and kindness.

It tells of the isolation that patients suffered, about the loneliness, and the heartbreak that so many deaths in a close community triggered. This is the human impact of a devastating disease, an epidemic.

The only criticism I would have is the order of some of the chapters but I am sure that final editing will look at this.

An amazing, well thought out book. A tough topic to write about made even more difficult being a memoir.
Well written and extremely well executed
Thank you to both NetGalley and publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my review

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you, Dr. Faulk, for sharing your story! As a medical professional, this book immediately caught my attention. This memoir follows Dr. Faulk's journey through residency and his medical career as he treats patients with HIV while simultaneously dealing with a personal diagnosis of HIV in the 1980s. It is raw and emotional, and filled with individual stories of friends, colleagues, and patients. At some times, the stories seem a little unfinished and some chapters end dramatically on cliffhangers, and I was left wondering what happened, and hoping for the best. This memoir offers a unique inside look, honest and unfiltered, from the perspective of the doctor, the patient, and the family/partner.

A beautiful book. Andrew Faulk has written a beautiful elegy to his late patients, friends and colleagues.
Having lived through the 80’s and 90’s albeit as a young child in the 80’s this book brought back memories I had since forgotten. Memories of people saying you could catch HIV from a toilet seat, or kissing. The collective gasping society made when it was revealed what Rock Hudson died from. Of discussions with friends as to whether we could be at risk and if it was worth being tested as this would have to be declared on life insurance applications regardless of the result (I’m still not sure if that was true or urban myth)
To now, wondering why it still made the national news that a rugby player had decided to reveal his HIV status. That collective gasp long gone.
I know I am lucky in where I live and who I associate with that the prejudice has gone and that it still lingers in other places and I hope this book is widely read and goes some way to dealing with it.

An interesting account of the early days of AIDS epidemic. Very well written.
I would recommend this book.
Review given honestly and freely after receipt of a reader copy. This opinion is completely my own and was not influenced in any way. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher.

<i>“This is the story of my epidemic: my personal fight with HIV, my personal and professional struggles with my orientation and illness, and my endeavours to provide my patients and friends with assistance in their walk off this planet.”</i>

Can you imagine what it was like to be there at the outbreak of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the US? I certainly can't.

In the 1980s, IV drug users and homosexual men started being diagnosed with illnesses very unusual in the immunocompetent person - Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) and Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), then dying. Nobody knew what it was, or how it was contracted. By the end of the 80s, 90,000 people had died in the US from AIDS. Doctor Faulk was there in the middle of it all, right from the onset of the epidemic. He was diagnosed with HIV, sure that his own life would be over shortly, as many of these other men’s had. He saw his partner and countless friends and peers die, and went on to help many patients of his who had been diagnosed with, and later died from AIDS - so many of the men Faulk knew, either by acquaintance or friendship, were dying. I just can't imagine it being almost common to have regular conversations with friends and being told that <i>so-and-so</i> had died. But that's what was happening.

In 1995, after 6 years of trial, the first HIV protease inhibitor, saquinavir, was approved for prescription, and death from AIDS <i>in the US</i> sharply declined.

This book was a fine portrayal of what these men went through during this time, and was very sensitively written. Thanks Netgalley, Culbertson Publishing, and Andrew M. Faulk, for an ARC of My Epidemic: An AIDS Memoir of One Man’s Struggle as Doctor, Patient and Survivor in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! I cannot imagine what the author went through, as having a diagnosis of a disease that is still unknown for the most part and then having to decide whether to keep working at a career he loves or not. The choices the author was forced to make and his bravery in the darkest moments of losing patients and friends to AIDS made this a read that I couldn't stop thinking about even after I was done reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I have no idea how to review this book despite finding it a fantastic read. It feels slightly wrong to say that when the subject matter is so sad, real and in many places controversial and filled with blame.

It became evident right from the start of the page that this was no ordinary “AIDS” book. Furthermore, that Dr Falk was no ordinary Doctor. His life has been spent working with, and working for, HIV positive men at the very beginning when no one knew much about it. He has given a voice to all those “brothers” who sadly passed away needlessly. His having AIDS himself and treating HIV patients brought a clearer empathy and knowledge to help in whatever way he could.

Ironically I write this review today when tomorrow is World AIDS Day but I will be wearing my red ribbon for all those who lost their lives; the families who lost their loved ones; and those who every day seek a cure. It is not just a disease that affects one person at a time, it is a globally continuing problem! This is probably Top 3 of the books I have read this year and would recommend it to everyone, it gave me an insight into something I did not know very much about!