My Pet Virus: The True Story of a Rebel Without a Cure [Paperback]

Shawn Decker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 21, 2006

Iwas destined for a life of medical drama from day one," begins this comic memoir with a mission. "I was born in the month of July, and my horoscope sign is a disease (Cancer). The symbol for Cancer? A crab (the sexually transmitted critter). Not only that, my parents named me Shawn Timothy Decker, which makes my initials S.T.D.

Shawn Decker isn't quite the All-American boy. Sure, he gets caught shoplifting copies of Penthouse; is crazy about prowrestling, especially "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair; and never has a problem getting dates. But he's also a hemophiliac who discovers, at age eleven, that he has contracted HIV from tainted blood products.

Instead of becoming self-pitying and dying (as first predicted), Shawn develops a twisted sense of humor, meets Depeche Mode through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and writes on blogs and in Poz magazine about what it's like being hetero and HIV-positive in rural Virginia. He also turns to gay men for advice on dating women and, almost twenty years after getting HIV, marries Gwenn Barringer, who is HIV-negative and a former competitor for the title of Miss Virginia. Together Shawn and Gwenn travel the country, speaking to high school and college kids about how to live and love with HIV (and how to avoid getting it).

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Growing up in the small town of Waynesboro, Va., Decker was diagnosed with hemophilia at 18 months, and then in 1987, while in sixth grade, he found out that one of his many blood transfusions had infected him with HIV; the diagnosis of full-blown AIDS came 12 years later. His drug regimens and general ill-health made him unfit for an eight-hour workday, and finding a woman who was comfortable enough with his HIV status was less than easy. For the purposes of Decker's book, he's not interested in pity, preferring instead to take the offensive—usually with purposefully bad humor, referring to himself as either a "thinblood" (for hemophiliac) or "postoid" (for his positive status). It's a refreshing tactic, for Decker focuses more on what he's doing to move ahead in life than on how he's suffering. Decker's bravery is inarguably admirable, but it distances him; by book's end—when he has married a beauty queen, with whom he tours the country speaking about sex and HIV—we respect him but hardly feel as though we know him. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Decker, a hemophiliac, learned at age 11 that he was HIV-positive. In his candid, raucous memoir, he recounts what it meant to grow up with his "pet virus" in the 1980s and 1990s. There's plenty of self-deprecation and no self-pity as he describes his first girlfriends and sexual encounters; the experience of meeting his favorite band, Depeche Mode, through the Make-a-Wish Foundation; and the process of gaining the confidence to "come out" and talk about his disease publicly, ultimately finding a career as a writer and speaker. Throughout, he's clear about his family's unwavering support and tough love ("Don't complain. The person a few rooms over may be taking a dirt nap tonight," his mother, who shares his dark humor, calmly remarks in the hospital); and his growing relationship with Gwen, the HIV-negative young woman who becomes his wife, is particularly poignant. There are too-few memoirs about living with AIDS, and this hilarious, outspoken, and vibrant story will instruct and inspire its readers. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher; 1 edition (September 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585425257
• ISBN-13: 978-1585425259
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #506,432 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #3 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Health, Mind & Body > Disorders & Diseases > AIDS
  • #8 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Humor > Doctors & Medicine
  • #16 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Medical

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clever, poignant, hilarious, September 21, 2006

By 

Sean Strub (New York, New York) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: My Pet Virus: The True Story of a Rebel Without a Cure (Paperback)

When Shawn Decker was interviewed for a cover story in POZ Magazine (which I founded) everyone in the office thought he was a natural comedian. He was a teenager in NYC for the first time, getting interrogated by a group of gay men with AIDS. We had fun asking him questions like if he ever tried marijuana. His reply? "no, because I am afraid it might lead to harder drugs, like AZT". My Pet Virus is Shawn's account of a childhood and young adulthood with HIV. If David Sedaris and Paula Poundstone had a love child, it would sound like Shawn Decker. But the book isn't just funny, it is insightful, moving and an extraordinary perspective on the AIDS epidemic through the eyes and experience of a young heterosexual man from Jerry Falwell country, in rural western Virginia.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to make a fun book about living with HIV/AIDS, September 27, 2006

By 

S. Doucet "beaconeast" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: My Pet Virus: The True Story of a Rebel Without a Cure (Paperback)

This is a great book about one of the most well-adjusted people in the world. Shawn has taken what was a death sentence at one time and overcome low expectations to shed some good light on the world. Thank you for having the guts to be a regular kid in a world that wanted to hide you away. Your sense of humor and take on life is a great way to address HIV/AIDS and safe sex to the next generation. Keep up the good work!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and not the least bit of woe in it..., September 28, 2008

By 

Candy Beauchamp "CandyTX" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Pet Virus: The True Story of a Rebel Without a Cure (Paperback)

I was expecting this book to be touching and sad. I was feeling a little down and decided, what the hell... cry a little. Um. Not so much. I realize that what the author goes through each day is very serious and I'm sure sad in it's own right. But ya know what? He is living - LIVING - proof that life goes on and you just have to keep getting on with the getting on of living life to the fullest. He's funny - oh, he's got some dark humor about him - but he's really funny. I don't think I've laughed so much at a memoir EVER.

Shawn made me laugh - and yes, cry a little - for him, for his mother, for his wife, but mostly it was tears from laughing so hard. He's a bit twisted and well, I like that.

I did, however, learn a lot about his myriad of illnesses and about what it must be like living with them. He did an amazing job of educating his readers while being entertaining. A dark, serious subject has a bit of light to it. This is an absolute wonderful read. Read it.