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Tinderbox

How the West Sparked the AIDS Epidemic and How the World Can Finally Overcome It
May 02, 2012JamesLoewen rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
There is no denying writer Craig Timberg's writing skills and Tinderbox reads like an exciting work of fiction that's chock full of the colourful adventures of our hero Halperin, out to slay AIDS. Sometimes Halperin is depicted as an ace reporter/ cab driver, waiting outside a San Francisco bathhouse with the meter running, while his HIV wasted customer runs inside to get his rocks off. Elsewhere he's a Jewish Mother Teresa, tenderly caring for AIDS victims. Many of these stories have the ring of the tall tale, so full of the atmospheric details that only appear in fiction. Tinderbox also reads like a romance novel but this is no classical love story. The passion here is entirely genitally focused on the circumcision of the African male, something Halperin is extremely enthusiastic about. Every third page waxes euphorically about Halperin's not-so-secret obsession, under the strictly scientific guise, of course, of fighting HIV. When describing a mobile medical team heading out to the Kenyan countryside to provide their circumcision services Sade comes on the radio singing "Smooth Operator." The old "C" of the ABC's of fighting HIV was "condoms" but that was so last year. The new fashion "C" is circumcision! While our book hero Halperin demures from claiming any excitement, his enthusiasm for male circumcision spills out every few pages. The three so-called studies that claim a 60% reduction in transmission of AIDS, from women to their circumcised male partners have been soundly questioned by scholars, with the real efficacy rate of circumcision perhaps at just over 1%. Genital cutting to prevent HIV is based on junk science but such pesky details won't keep our hero from his quest. Perhaps one day we'll see Hollywood re-imagine this story as a comedy starring Adam Sandler as Halperin. In the meantime I'm with those who would prefer a more scholarly approach to dealing with AIDS.