Riser has a master's degree in English literature and teaches high school English. In the following essay, she discusses the theme and form in "The Way We Live Now."

It is not surprising that Susan Sontag's short story "The Way We Live Now" was published in 1987, the same year as Randy Shilts's journalistic work And the Band Played On, as well as the same year ACT UP, an AIDS activist organization, was formed. Shilts's groundbreaking book chronicles the AIDS epidemic in America, covering its political, scientific, and personal impact from the early 1980s, when AIDS was a little-known disease associated with the relatively small gay male community, to 1987, when practically all Americans perceived the threat of the disease looming over them or those they loved. ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) was organized in response to the growing epidemic to increase awareness and force policy makers...