The Tragedy of Today's Gays cover

The Tragedy of Today's Gays

by Larry Kramer

With equal parts eloquence and urgency, common sense and patriotism, Kramer writes a concise history of AIDS and despairs that gays have become a tragic people: A lack of civic and political involvement even when faced with an increasingly powerful and hateful opposition. A sexual abandon so reckless that "we are murdering each other." A growing addiction to crystal-meth that defies logic. But Kramer offers gays a survival plan: "So many of Larry Kramer's messages to the younger generation are humanist messages, so old-fashioned in a callow age that we need Kramer to make them again," writes Naomi Wolf in her foreword. "Honor your dead. Take responsibility for yourselves. Grow up. Your lives have meaning-don't fuck and drug them away."

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?