AIDS: The Ultimate Challenge [Hardcover]

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1987

Dr Kubler-Ross shows how to comfort the seriously ill and help AIDS patients through the critical "stages of dying". The book includes letters from patients, questions and answers between doctor and patient, and chapters on babies, children and women with AIDS

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This unfocused collection of essays, personal testimonials, interview transcripts and other material addresses a variety of topics: the public outcry that foiled the author's efforts to start a hospice for infants with AIDS on her rural Virginia estate; the varying degrees of success to which the world's gay communities have formed vital support systems to care for their sick and dying; the resistance among health and government officials that the author has repeatedly enountered when trying to point out the severity of the epidemic; the incidence of AIDS in prisons. The tales of AIDS patients and the health-care workers who have cared for them are as heartbreaking as the examples of bigotry (both official and civilian) are appalling. But Kubler-Ross (On Death and Dying, etc.) is writing (or compiling) from a distinct point of view that will severely limit the book's appeal. That is, that the AIDS epidemic has been visited upon the human race as a pre-Second Coming test of mankind's spiritual mettlethe "ultimate challenge" of the title. It is her belief, she tells a dying young man, that most AIDS victims "chose to have this illness in order to help mankind to raise their consciousness, and to become more aware that we are all brothers and sisters." While her emphatic plea for compassion for all AIDS victims is beyond reproach, few of the ever-growing ranks of individuals touched by this tragedy will be comfortable with the idea that they or their loved ones have chosen to be afflicted by this hideous disease; nor will they find much comfort or counsel in this strange and disappointing book.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Kbler-Ross, the celebrated thanatologist, now joins the chorus of voices waging war with the AIDS epidemic. While her tone is shrill and full of indignation toward those who respond to AIDS with fear or prejudice, the book is nevertheless compelling. Drawing on her conversations with patients, families, and caregivers, the author covers the wide range of emotions triggered by the virus. Kubler-Ross, as in On Death and Dying and other previous works, makes a strong case for human compassion. She sees AIDS as an opportunity for us all to learn the ultimate lesson, the lesson of unconditional love. Recommended for general readers. Rev. David A. Buehler, Charlton Memorial Hospital, Fall River, Mass.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 329 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan Pub Co; 1St Edition edition (December 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0025671707
• ISBN-13: 978-0025671706
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,572,349 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross earned a place as the best-loved and most-respected authority on the subjects of death and dying. Through her many books, as well as her years working with terminally ill children, AIDS patients, and the elderly, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross brought comfort and understanding to millions coping with their own deaths or the death of a loved one. Dr. Kubler-Ross, whose books have been translated into twenty-seven languages, passed away in 2004 at the age of seventy-eight. Before her death, she and David Kessler completed work on their second collaboration, On Grief and Grieving.