[1] Using 188 interviews conducted as part of the ACT UP Oral History Project,[2] Schulman shows how the activist group was successful, due to its decentralized, dramatic actions, and emphasizes the contributions of people of color and women to the movement.

Schulman recounts different ACT UP members' experiences joining the movement and their contributions to large actions like Stop the Church and demonstrations in front of the Food and Drug Administration, New York Stock Exchange, and National Institutes of Health.

[6] The New York Times's Parl Sehgal explains, "This is a book about the past, written in the fury of the present — in the midst of another epidemic — but its gaze is fixed on the future.

[8] Publishers Weekly's primarily positive review noted, "Readers less familiar with ACT UP may wish for a clearer explanation of its organizational structure and more narrative cohesion than Schulman provides.

Still, her firsthand perspective and copious details provide a valuable testament to the courage and dedication of many unheralded activists.