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Love Is the Cure: On Life, Loss, and the End of AIDS Paperback – November 26, 2013

by Elton John (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 284 ratings
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A deeply personal account of Elton John's life during the era of AIDS and an inspiring call to action.

In the 1980s, Elton John saw friend after friend, loved one after loved one, perish needlessly from AIDS. He befriended Ryan White, a young Indiana boy ostracized because of his HIV infection. Ryan's inspiring life and devastating death led Elton to two realizations: His own life was a mess. And he had to do something to help stop the AIDS crisis.

Since then, Elton has dedicated himself to overcoming the plague and the stigma of AIDS. The Elton John AIDS Foundation has raised and donated $275 million to date to fighting the disease worldwide. Love Is the Cure includes stories of Elton's close friendships with Ryan White, Freddie Mercury, Princess Diana, Elizabeth Taylor, and others, and the story of the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Sales of Love Is the Cure benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    256 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Back Bay Books
  4. Publication date
    November 26, 2013
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.75 x 8.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0316219916
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0316219914
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"You will walk away with a newfound respect for Elton as a sensitive, single-minded artist....Love is the Cure is strong medicine, and Elton is an inspiration."--Joan Rivers―Beverly Hills Courier

"Heartbreaking...worth checking out for its noble goal: a resounding message of hope."--The Miami Herald

"This inspirational cri de coeur is sure to encourage those in the trenches and compel those on the sidelines to get involved."--Publishers Weekly

"An impassioned plea for understanding and a good layman's guide to the current state of the AIDS crisis."--Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Sir Elton John is one of the most esteemed, beloved, and best-selling songwriters, performers, and recording artists in history. His monumental career has spanned five decades, during which time he has sold 250 million records worldwide. His single, "Candle in the Wind 1997," a tribute to his friend Princess Diana, is the bestselling single in Billboard history.

Sir Elton has received numerous Grammy Awards, an Academy Award for The Lion King, and Tony Awards for The Lion King, Aida, and Billy Elliot. In 1998, the Queen of England knighted him Sir Elton John, CBE. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, and in 2004, Sir Elton received the Kennedy Center Honor for his lifetime contributions to American culture and excellence through the performing arts.

The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF), founded in 1992, has raised $275 million to fight the AIDS epidemic and help those affected by it. EJAF has supported hundreds of projects in 55 countries.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Back Bay Books; Reprint edition (November 26, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316219916
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316219914
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.75 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 284 ratings

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Elton John

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
284 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Elizabeth Rosenthal
5.0 out of 5 stars If you care about the AIDS epidemic, buy this book!
Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2012
Verified Purchase
If you want a book about Elton's life, with all the gossip, the music, the costumes, the flowers, the feathers, the tiaras, the tantrums, the ups, and the downs, not to mention his genius, you will have to look elsewhere. This book is not for you. But if you are interested in Elton's charitable endeavors, or the AIDS epidemic, or the social and health issues that face humanity, or if you would like to support the Elton John AIDS Foundation, you should buy this book (proceeds from which benefit the EJAF) and read it.

Elton John should be commended for making his first book not a self-congratulatory autobiography but a plea for help in his chief passion, the fight against AIDS. Yes, Love is the Cure contains many autobiographical elements. Elton explains how his young friend, AIDS victim and activist Ryan White, unwittingly placed the musician on the path to recovery from life-threatening multiple addictions. This, in turn, enabled Elton to do what he wishes he'd done sooner - become a volunteer, activist, and fundraiser extraordinaire to rid the world of AIDS and the mass suffering, social and economic disruption, and terrible deaths it causes.

We read how Elton took many valuable lessons from his own experiences - before, during and after rehab - and applied them to his work against AIDS. For example, through his leadership, the EJAF has been very aggressive in reaching out to marginalized populations, including not just men who have sex with men, but sex workers, intravenous drug users, prison inmates, and the desperately poor, in countries around the globe. EJAF monies are funneled to local organizations in such diverse places as South Africa and Ukraine designed to meet very specific needs. The epidemic of rape against women in South Africa and homophobia in Ukraine are the stuff of outrage, but, as Elton points out, so are politicians and religious leaders in the U.S. who stand in the way of sex education and clean needle exchanges, as well as adequate funding for local AIDS programs that could reach the most vulnerable people.

Elton fervently believes that, given the medical advances that have been made in the treatment of AIDS, if only governments, private companies, nonprofits, and individuals could shed their prejudices and shortsightedness, and do their fair share, we could see the end of AIDS in the foreseeable future. In other words, it's the lack of commitment to eradication of the disease rather than an inability to do what is necessary that is now the chief obstacle in the fight against AIDS. Love is the Cure is eye-opening and inspiring.
46 people found this helpful
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kimba1960
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating read
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2014
Verified Purchase
I am a huge Elton John fan and have been for over 40 years. While this book has personal stories in it, it is about the on going fight to end AIDS and how Elton started his foundation, how it works and his vision on how to end AIDS. I especially liked how the book is like he is telling the story directly to you. There are statistics but not so much to overwhelm the reader. It's an eye opener quite frankly. I had forgotten how many people worldwide are affected by the disease. Another interesting part tells of how the drug companies have not always been very helpful in the struggle to end this disease and in many ways contribute to it continuing to this day. There are some great photos in the book too. There are several sections that brought me to tears. Elton is a very honest person and while there is no doubt that he is one of the greatest entertainers ever, to me he is a relatable person because he chooses to show his vulnerabilities. He is not just another "celebrity". This is a great book for those who are Elton fans or interested in the AIDS battle. It presents a way to end this disease once and for all if we can all come together to make it happen!
4 people found this helpful
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Dr Beverly R Vincent
4.0 out of 5 stars Assigning blame and credit, and laying out a plan for the future
Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2012
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Sir Elton John's life has been interesting and varied enough that he could easily have found a lot to write about in his first book. He's been a mainstay of the pop charts for four decades. His flamboyant lifestyle has been fodder for tabloids and mainstream media alike. He has moved in elevated circles, both in his native England, where he was friends with Princess Diana, and in the US, which he regards as a second home. He has played Madison Square Gardens more than any other performer, and he has the biggest-selling single of all time according to the Guinness Book of Records.

Instead, he chose to shine the spotlight on the current state of the AIDS crisis. By his own admission, he remained on the sidelines for far too long in the disease's early years. He was consumed by his own personal issues: addictions to drugs, alcohol and food. He learned about Ryan White, the young boy who became the most visible face of AIDS in the 1980s, the same way everyone else did: through a cover article in People magazine he read in a doctor's waiting room. He became incensed at the way the boy, who was infected by a contaminated drug used to treat his hemophilia, was treated by his community. He reached out to the family and supported them emotionally for the duration of Ryan's short life.

Ryan's upbeat attitude caused the musician to reevaluate his life. Before he could help anyone else, he had to get clean, which he did in the late eighties. It's not as if the crisis hadn't touched his life before then. He knew many people who were infected and died of AIDS. He needed a kick in the rear, and he got it. In 1992, he created the Elton John Aids Foundation (EJAF) and for the past two decades he's been at the forefront of the fund-raising effort to sponsor charities around the globe.

The book's subtitle is "On Life, Loss, and the End of AIDS." Its emphasis, though, is primarily on the third component: ending AIDS, a goal that he feels is attainable except for one factor. The disease's main victims are homosexuals, drug users and prison inmates--not a group that attracts much sympathy from the general populace. This is true in America, but the situation is even worse in other countries, where homosexuality is illegal.

The musician hands out blame and credit in equal measure. He reserves a significant dose of blame for himself for not using his celebrity, connection and considerable resources earlier. However, he directly blames politicians like Ronald Reagan, religious figures like Jerry Falwell, and political leaders in other nations, such as the Ukraine and South Africa for being responsible for hundreds of thousands--if not millions--of deaths because of their policies and proclamations. On the other hand, he mentions unlikely allies, people like Senator Orrin Hatch and former President George W. Bush, with whom he shares almost no political views but who both stood up on behalf of AIDS victims and encouraged the government to open its coffers and fund research, treatment and education programs. Credit where credit is due, he seems to say. He doesn't have to agree with every politician's policies to find common ground on this one important subject.

The EJAF made an important decision from the beginning. Rather than duplicating the efforts of existing organizations, they would concentrate their efforts on fundraising and on making sure the money ended up where it could make the most impact. This kept their overhead down and made use of existing infrastructures. The US branch handles North America and the Caribbean, while the British branch covers most of the rest of the world. In his book Elton John discusses some of the programs they have supported and why they've been so important and effective.

He sees AIDS as a disease that could be essentially eradicated. Current drug therapy has turned AIDS from a death sentence into a disease that people can live long lives with. The drug regimen not only reduces the symptoms in patients, it reduces the chance that it will be transmitted. With increased funding worldwide that amounts to the rounding error of the US national budget, AIDS patients could be treated globally. However, that will never happen so long as the disease's primary victims are stigmatized. That is the essence of his thesis: that love is the cure. Treating people with AIDS--or those at greatest risk of being infected--humanely. His message is inspirational and it's not a pie-in-the-sky hope. His foundation's successes demonstrate that the approach can be effective.
11 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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L. Presley
5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging and Compassionate
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 13, 2019
Verified Purchase
Elton John talks about how it is possible to eradicate HIV/AIDS in the future and for those living with it or most at risk of contracting it, how important it is to treat everyone equally with love, empathy and compassion, without stigma; regardless of situation, background and lifestyle in order to do so. This book shows the amazing work done so far by The Elton John Aids Foundation and other organisations. It also has some interesting autobiographical snippets: how meeting Ryan White (a boy who contracted HIV through infected blood and from then on he and his family faced terrible stigma and prejudice) turned his life around. It contributed greatly to him seeking help for his addictions and inspired him to help others and set up his foundation. Lots of facts and statistics throughout but presented in an engaging way.
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Silberkoenigin
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelent
Reviewed in Brazil on December 28, 2016
Verified Purchase
He surprises us with statistic data... Sir Elton has gone deep so he could try to convince us to embrace his point of view. As a good aries he is, he tries to convince us os his point of view - and man, he does!
Way to go, Sir Elton! You're a damn good musician and a damn good writer!
You may have make all mistakes you think you did, but you are SINCERE!
:D
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Stéphan Lamarmé
4.0 out of 5 stars GOOD BOOK
Reviewed in Canada on April 3, 2014
Verified Purchase
Easy reading, well documented. To the point. Made me realize the potential of prevention of AIDS with the will to do it by everyone, especially governments.
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lila
5.0 out of 5 stars satisfatit
Reviewed in France on June 10, 2013
Verified Purchase
L'état de livre était parfait. Le livre lui-même me paraît très intéressant. Je crois avoir fait un bon achat. Je suis contente.
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Donny Rock
3.0 out of 5 stars No longer a death sentence.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 11, 2019
Verified Purchase
Singer/songwriter and his views and actions on HIV.AIDS. Too many statistics, I feel. He set up an international foundation for HIV/AIDS research and treatment, originally solely from his own money. Perhaps the book could have done with more individual cases rather than such a broad overview. Great credit to him for his endeavours.
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