AIDS and the National Body

“Yingling was a leading figure in gay and lesbian studies, and a prominent theoriest of AIDS and cultural politics. He delved into such issues as canon formation, poetic theory, and the rhetoric of the body in American popular culture. This is a serious book to read and one that will be difficult for some. It is, however, an extremely important book for all researchers to read in order to understand Yingling’s innermost thoughts.” - AIDS Book Review Journal

“Shortly before his death, Yingling had emerged as one of the central theorists of AIDS cultural politics. The loss of his ongoing public contribution is quite evident in these writings. But the publication of his personal writings allows us also to accept this loss as a personal one, and to reflect with him on the changing priorities he experiences as he realizes he is being overwhelmed by the very object of his critical reflection. The essays by his friends and colleagues provide a model for sustaining—by critically engaging—perspectives that we are losing to early deaths. This is how we will survive—mourn and organize and critically reflect on the political and cultural disaster of the AIDS epidemic, even as it continues to take away, among the many fallen comrades, some of the best thinkers of our time.” - Cindy Patton, Emory University