With compassion and humanity, Steven W. Thrasher writes a compelling and sobering book about viral epidemics, like HIV and Covid-19, and the toll they take on marginalized communities. The use of personal anecdotes and stories of community activists make this book compulsively readable. The book centers around Michael Johnson, a Black gay man living in Missouri, who was convicted of spreading HIV without disclosing his status and sentenced to 30 years. This sentence is longer than the state average for someone convicted of second degree murder. Fortunately, he was released early.

Thrasher describes the viral underclass as made up of individuals who society deems disposable, inferior, unworthy. The structure of our capitalist society isn’t something broken that needs to be fixed. It needs to be dismantled completely. A lack of universal healthcare, a carceral state, prejudice and inequality all contribute to the way viruses spread, having far more dire consequences for disadvantaged populations.

I highlighted so many sections and I wish I could share them all. I got so much out of this book and recommend everyone take time to read it.

I find nonfiction books written by journalists particularly enjoyable because they often take difficult and academic topics and make them accessible and personal. In The Viral Underclass, Dr. Steven Thrasher uses personal stories and his own experiences to discuss how the intersection of police violence, poverty, classism/capitalism, and systemic racism interacts with disease(s) to create a viral underclass. He does this through the lens of the AIDS epidemic and, more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. The result is humbling, haunting, and educational. If you struggled to put a finger on what felt "wrong" about COVID-19 + essential workers + poverty + death -  Dr. Thrasher will articulate it for you. This book is one of the most understandable breakdowns of the impact of capitalism I have ever read. In particular, this book explains how the aforementioned factors, which together create a viral underclass, function to make us place the blame (for viruses/pandemics/poverty) on the individual rather than on the society that is failing underrepresented and marginalized people.

In particular, this book hit home for me because, as a legal aid attorney, so many of my clients express a deep shame for their poverty - because the overarching message in a capitalist society is "you're poor because you're bad and you deserve it." This is mirrored by the sentiment of those in power - judges, court clerks, prosecutors, even folks who work at social service agencies - who can struggle to understand and believe the very real barriers that marginalized people face when trying to escape poverty - and really, that an "escape" from poverty is even possible - they just have to try harder, right?

I highly recommend this book.

Interesting Read!

What a interesting title in The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide by Steven W. Thrasher. I haven't read work from this author before, and I enjoyed this book. This book gives a lot of information about health care and how diseases can spread through out what would be the poor or lower class. It's not that diseases are biased and only want to affect the lower class, but that the lower class may not be able to get the appropriate health care or even insurance that would cover different diseases, that the rich or middle class may afford to. This is about being humane, and humankind, and survival. Survival, especially when there are epidemics or pandemics, that can reach different communities. It is a very compelling book, and it does look at diseases such as HIV/AIDS, and COVID, that not only can affect anyone who is exposed, but the stigma of getting those diseases, especially if part of a specific community, or it is assumed to only affect a certain community, race or lifestyle. The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews. I look forward to reading more titles by this author. I read this book to give my unbiased and honest review. Amy's Bookshelf Reviews recommends that anyone who reads this book, to also write a review.

Thank you Celadon Books (@CeladonBooks) and Dr. Steven W. Thrasher (@thrasherxy) for the e-arc of The Viral Underclass and my bookish friends for the hard copy of the arc!

Thoughts 💭: Pre-eminent LGBTQ scholar, social critic, and journalist Dr. Steven W. Thrasher explores the structural, racial, and classist inequalities as we continue to cope with the repercussions of Covid-19, the AIDS crisis, and death of George Flyod, which brought these issues to the forefront. Thrasher’s storytelling throughout this study is accessible, and asks us to reflect on how lives have transformed in the aftermath of the current times. The book is divided into 4 Acts: Blame, Law and Order, Social Death, and Reckoning. Thrasher weaves the narratives of friends, activist, and teachers navigating their intersectional identities as he argues the concept called “the viral underclass” as he contextualizes his own subjectivity within this conversation. He defines the term as the acknowledgment that viruses affect people as a whole and interact with power structures that exist within our society.

As the narrative unfolds, he presents the case of Michael Johnson, a man who was charged with spreading HIV and was later sentenced to 30 years to present the case for criminalization of AIDS. Moreover, he also links the exploration of these cases with capitalism and racism, and how they further perpetuate these inequalities. As a writer, it is clear that Thrasher has a wealth of knowledge that he imparts on the reader. This book should be required reading to get insights into the lives of people who have precarious identities, and is an eye-opening and thought provoking narrative that would make us aware of who we are and how we are privileged in many ways.

The Viral Underclass by Steven W. Thrasher ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

A big thanks to @celadonbooks via @netgalley for an ARC of this book! It comes out August 2!

This book brought me back to my sociology-reading textbook days. Thrasher looks at class and how class intersects with viruses and treatment of said viruses. Thrasher uses his background in HIV research to illustrate his points with COVID references to further bolster his arguments.

I found this to be well-researched and well-organized. The point of view was clear and consistent.

I deeply enjoyed the human stories sprinkled throughout the book. The main story follows the trial of Michael Johnson, but there are many other characters that share their journey along the way. Each character adds a human element to the “big picture” ideas Thrasher is putting forth. These illustrations prove, once again, that humans daring to be activists is what makes change.

Overall, this is a timely read and an examination of how we can do better in supporting others.

Thanks to Celadon Books for the gifted ARC!

The Viral Underclass is a much-needed book detailing the interaction of inequality and viruses, particularly HIV and COVID-19. Dr. Steven W. Thrasher clearly has an extensive background in HIV research and uses this knowledge mixed in with race and class data to build a case showing the structural issues that make low-income, non-white individuals more susceptible to viruses. I really appreciated listening to the case studies that Thrasher chose to drive his points home and help readers view viruses in a new way. Biology is NOT the only indicator for spreading or surviving viruses, and in fact solving issues like racism and classism could immensely improve the health of our most vulnerable population.

The Viral Underclass by Steven W. Thrasher is such an eye-opening, tragic, and phenomenal book. Though the topic of viruses gave me pause when I read the description, I’m so glad I read this incredibly readable narrative nonfiction book. Thrasher brings such an empathetic voice and illustrates what’s happening holistically, so the reader understands the larger picture of how members in the “Viral Underclass” are more susceptible to the potentially deadly effect of viruses, not because of their biology but by systemic inequality and racism.

Thrasher largely focuses on the COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS pandemics and explains scientific and historical context in an understandable way, synthesizing context. In each chapter, he focuses on a person or anecdote that illustrates how being part of the viral underclass is such a precarious position to be in. I especially found the parts on stigma illuminating. My favorite aspect of the book, was how activism and empathy are featured as a way to help those most at risk. I loved the portraits of activists and the beautiful, empathetic ways he treats all people featured. As someone who has lost a very dear loved one to complications from AIDS, it was wonderful to learn about the work of AIDS activists and the deeply kind actions of dear friends to those plagued by the virus. I listened to the audiobook, which is deftly narrated by its author, bringing warmth to the book. If you’re interested in social activism, this belongs on your shelf next to The Sum of Us, Caste, The New Jim Crow, etc.

Thank you Celadon Books / Macmillan Audio for providing this ebook / audiobook ARC.

The Viral Underclass is very readable and draws you in from the beginning. It’s thought-provoking, sobering, and frequently sad. I especially enjoyed the way the chapters were structured: science, statistics, and facts blended with moving stories of the experiences of – and the injustices done to – real people. I was disappointed and distracted, however, at how often the author let his biases show through in glib, throwaway remarks that resembled what you would imagine to be said by those he was exposing or criticizing.

Thanks to Celadon Books for providing an advance copy of The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide to me as a Celadon Reader via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It was well-crafted and well-researched and a story that needed to be told. The author’s personal experiences added to the readability of the book. It was moving, compelling, and startling, but I would not have missed reading this informative book. All opinions are my own.

YES, YES, YES! Five stars! The Viral Underclass demonstrates how the ways we "other" people contributes to their suffering and increased likelihood to catch and succumb to viruses such as HIV and Covid. There were so many heartbreaking examples of how people have been wronged, including by the most liberal among us. This is a must read for all to see the world around them for what it is and put action toward change.

The Viral Underclass was a sobering and important read for me as a middle-class, cisgendered heterosexual Caucasian woman. Steven Thrasher tells the story of coping with the medical system, government bureaucracy and societal indifference through viral epidemics like HIV and COVID as a vulnerable and disenfranchised member of society. Whether through poverty, disability, immigration status, incarceration, sexual orientation, gender identity or some intersection of these factors, the people discussed, in Thrasher's detailed and heavily researched book, have to navigate the challenges of viral outbreaks without the supports that they should have. Along the way, they do get support, not from government institutions, insurance or the medical system, but from others in their community and social network who go above and beyond to challenge traditional institutions and systemic discrimination to get the recognition and support that they require.

This is a thought-provoking book which makes timely points about equality and social justice. We like to say "we're all in this together", but Steven Thrasher makes it very clear that this is not true. I would like to thank Celadon Books for providing me with a copy of this important book to read and review

The Viral Underclass does a superb job of explaining how disadvantaged members of the population are at higher risk for disease and death not because of who they are as individuals or because of the personal choices they make, but because we as a society set them up for failure. The primary vectors Thrasher uses to demonstrate this are viruses - HIV and very recently, COVID-19. Thrasher looks at HIV from a personal angle, being part of a demographic at higher risk, and tells the story of Michael Johnson, a black gay man that is HIV positive that was put on trial in Missouri for infecting other men with the disease. Missouri, at the time, convicted Michael and sentenced him to thirty years in prison for transmitting a disease that with proper treatment allows individuals to still live a full life. As a comparison point, the standard sentence for second degree murder is less. Thrasher combines Michael's story with other powerful stories of people that are marginalized by society. These, combined with intricate research creates a powerful and readable story. Occasionally Thrasher lets his personal feelings creep in, and while fully justified, does tend to undercut how powerful the objectivity is in the majority of the book. And while parts of the book are interconnected, splitting the book up into the different problems that constitute a viral underclass means there are certain things that get restated multiple times throughout the book, whereas others only get lightly touched on. For the most part I really enjoyed this book and particularly want to highlight chapter twelve, where Thrasher muses on the unknown impact losing leaders of the viral underclass has on other members of the class, especially in regards to the gentle affirmation that each person is beautiful as they are, means something to someone, and has value in society. A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Steven W. Thrasher highlights the ways in which viruses illustrate the divisions in society in his new book The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide. By using real life examples of how the law is made/enforced, how drugs are marketed, and how vaccines and medication are distributed he is able to show how large swaths of society are left behind or vulnerable to sickness. Thrasher's background in HIV research and policy is evident throughout the book as he uses that as the prime example for his argument for the viral underclass. He uses the COVID pandemic to supplement this argument. He discusses two particular individuals in the book- one young Black man who was convicted of potentially infecting individuals with HIV when he did not disclose his status, and an undocumented woman who was a major force in her community only to be struck down by COVID. This is an informative book, providing concrete examples of how laws (like the crime bill in the 1990's, welfare reform) affect the "underclass". Much of what was discussed did not surprise me, but obviously infuriated me. A thought provoking and timely book.

Thank you to Celadon Books via NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for honest review.

Should have looked at this more closely. I thought this would be a technical, science-based book, focusing on the details of various viruses. Instead it's a social and political opinion on race and gender/sexuality, discussing only HIV and COVID. The book condemns generalizations and stereotypes, but I feel the author included some of his own assumptions. A lot is also based around New York, Chicago, and other large cities, disregarding the differences in small, rural areas, leaving it feeling unrelatable to me. A few interesting parts but overall not the book for me.

Well researched with understandable studies and a personal touch, making the story more accessible. It is hard to read though as it does have a lot of sad/alarming information but it is well worthwhile too.