Sizwe's Test: A Young Man's Journey Through Africa's AIDS Epidemic [Hardcover]

Jonny Steinberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 12, 2008 | ISBN-10: 1416552693 | ISBN-13: 978-1416552697 | Edition: First Edition

At the age of twenty-nine, Sizwe Magadla is among the most handsome, well-educated, and richest of the men in his poverty-stricken village. Dr. Hermann Reuter, a son of old South West African stock, wants to show the world that if you provide decent treatment, people will come and get it, no matter their circumstances.

Sizwe and Hermann live at the epicenter of the greatest plague of our times, the African AIDS epidemic. In South Africa alone, nearly 6 million people in a population of 46 million are HIV-positive. Already, Sizwe has watched several neighbors grow ill and die, yet he himself has pushed AIDS to the margins of his life and associates it obliquely with other people's envy, with comeuppance, and with misfortune.

When Hermann Reuter establishes an antiretroviral treatment program in Sizwe's district and Sizwe discovers that close family members have the virus, the antagonism between these two figures from very different worlds -- one afraid that people will turn their backs on medical care, the other fearful of the advent of a world in which respect for traditional ways has been lost and privacy has been obliterated -- mirrors a continent-wide battle against an epidemic that has corrupted souls as much as bodies.

A heartbreaking tale of shame and pride, sex and death, and a continent's battle with its demons, Steinberg's searing account is a tour-de-force of literary journalism.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Award-winning South African journalist Steinberg, a gay white man, conceived this book to understand the AIDS crisis in his country and, to a limited degree, in himself: though HIV testing and treatment are readily accessible, he wondered, why did so many abstain? Steinberg journeys to the poor black village of Ithanga, where antiretrovirals (ARVs) are available, but electricity and running water are not. He examines the disease through the pseudonymous Sizwe Magadla, a 30-year-old shopkeeper who has resisted testing. Sizwe becomes Steinberg's interpreter and explains the village's traditional health-care system in which witchcraft thrives and Western medical missionaries challenge healers and herbalists. Steinberg traces Sizwe's growing awareness of the myths and realities of the three letters—one persistent belief, that whites created and deployed HIV as a means to regain power, echoes the legacy of apartheid still overshadowing the country—and his attempts to reconcile cultural beliefs with increasingly unassailable medical facts. Steinberg becomes intertwined with his subject, but balances critical distance and compassion with gleanings from his own psychological barriers to HIV testing that further deepen the concern and understanding he accords to Sizwe's story. (Feb.)
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From Booklist

Journalist Steinberg wonders how, in a rapidly evolving socioeconomic situation such as South Africa’s, it is possible to record more than a thousand new HIV infections per day. He notes that, despite the best efforts of government and the international organization Médecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, or Doctors without Borders), one in eight South Africans has AIDS. Where, he asks, is the disconnect? Why aren’t more South Africans taking advantage of the medical resources available to them? Are there, indeed, enough resources to go around? To answer those and further questions, Steinberg embedded himself in a small village in the rural district of Lusikisiki in Eastern Cape Province and shadowed a young man, a shop owner named Sizwe. The resulting profile of him, his family, friends, and the local MSF facility is a real eye-opener. Besides a portrait of what life is like for the people negotiating this transitional period, Steinberg offers a candid glimpse into Sizwe’s private thoughts and fears, which likely mirror those of many of his countrymen. --Donna Chavez

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (February 12, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416552693
• ISBN-13: 978-1416552697
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #932,577 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant March 8, 2008

By Crunch Solutions

Format:Hardcover

The fundamental question that Mr Steinberg wrestles with is why people may choose not to take drugs that may preempt death. His honesty, sensitivity and tenacity enable him to explore the dynamics of a rural South African community in a way that I've not encountered. And yes, the man can write.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding writing, critical insights November 28, 2010

By QuiuboMona

Format:Paperback

This book is a must read for anyone interested in HIV in Africa or South African politics more generally. In following Sizwe through his decision of whether or not to get tested for HIV, it eloquently weaves together the main character's personal life and decision with the cultural, social, and political context that shapes his decision. For many people, it is utterly inconceivable why this disease has so devastated South Africa, and in particular, why a person might choose not to get tested, even now that effective treatment exists. This book goes a long way towards explaining that. It also provides an excellent, very readable narrative about rural life in South Africa--a story that is often overlooked--and about politics all the way from the President down to the local health clinician. Steinberg mixes the self-awareness of the modern ethnographer with the prose of a top-notch journalist.

I really disagree with the reviewer who says that the book is moralistic and pro-apartheid. First of all, re: the title--this is not the original title of the book, it's the unfortunate choice of the American publisher. The original title (for the South African edition) is "Three Letter Plague," which indeed has a less moralistic connotation. I did not perceive the author to be judging the main character at all--in fact, quite the opposite. Regarding Steinberg's portrayal of post-apartheid majority rule in South Africa, yes, the author accurately depicts Mbeki's (as well as Mandela's) total failure to understand HIV and develop an adequate policy on it. In Mandela's case, he is sympathetic--new, unexpected challenge, amongst many many things needing reform. He is not so generous with Mbeki--but then, neither were most South Africans, including blacks (hence why the ANC soundly rejected his bid for presidency of the party in 2007). The most prominent HIV+ activists in the country, most of whom are not white, were incredibly frustrated with Mbeki's response to the crisis. South Africa is a country whose democracy was born out of protest movements, and the very same people who organized against apartheid are now activists on the new struggles, the biggest of which is HIV/AIDS. That Steinberg depicts this does not make him pro-apartheid.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars so much more July 18, 2009

By Moten Swing

Format:Hardcover

So much more than a book about AIDS. This is a nuanced, personal, revealing account of one man (Sizwe), his interlocutor (Jonny) and a doctor who figures out how best to deliver services to HIV+ people in the countryside. It examines personalities and policies with equal depth and wisdom. There are no cartoon-character bad guys, just complicated situations, ignorance, bureaucracy, and a great deal of stigma. It is gracefully and thoughtfully written, never trite, seldom judgmental, and sharp as a new blade. I, however, will be trite: "If you read only one book on AIDS in sub-saharan Africa, this is a great choice."