Throughout the memoir, it’s hard not to fall in love with Burks for her big-heartedness and enduring sense of humor in the face of suffering. However, All the Young Men isn’t an uplifting book. Ignorance, denial and cruelty have always been, and always will be, killers. But as Burks forges a path alongside these vulnerable men, her embrace of education and rejection of bigotry light the way forward for us all..

It’s a tale of high drama and mesmerising detail, but also of breathtaking courage and compassion.

Burks and her co-writer balance tragedy with bright moments of joy, sly humor and inspiring empathy in this surprisingly pleasurable memoir about bridging cultural divides to nurture one another as human beings.

The origin story of the protagonist, dramatic on its own, is mentioned as an aside to the vignettes about the lives of the men she helps. It provides a powerful backstory. Her mother, a former nurse, was placed in a TB sanatorium when she was a child. She didn’t have TB but a rare lung disease. Medical misdiagnosis and mistreatment are part of the family history, and so too is caretaking. The first-person narrative offers the reader moments of shared epiphany.

A a young woman finds a significant role for herself as an advocate for AIDS patients, based largely on her strong character and refusal to be defined by societal norms.

This is a powerful memoir, cowritten with author O’Leary, about personal responsibility and the too easily forgotten beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Burks’s spirited, straightforward prose balances the heartbreak of her story with just enough humor and toughness.

Though too much backstory and detail sometimes slow the narrative pace, Burks’ vivid memories of 'my guys' and the trials she endured fighting against prejudice offer a portrait of courageous compassion that is both rare and inspiring.

... plainspoken.