Since first reports of a "gay cancer" in 1981, it has been hard to ignore the politics, polemic, and prejudice that gathered around AIDS. Yet a literary genre also emerged, and Vital Signs contains the very best of the extraordinary work created in America in response to our greatest contemporary health crisis. This collection documents the critical years of struggle, bravery, loss, and redemption in eighteen unique examples. Inventive, moving, humane, and uplifting, these stories show us how to live in times of uncertainty and adversity. They offer, indeed, a plethora of vital signs.