The 21 stellar writers in this international short-story collection include five Nobel winners. All the stories were chosen by the writers themselves and contributed without any fee, and all profits go to fight HIV-AIDS in southern Africa. The stories are not about AIDS, but several are about war and about dying. In Njabulo Ndbele's "Death of a Son," parents fight to get their child's body from the apartheid police. "The Ultimate Safari," by Gordimer, who edited the anthology, is a searing, unforgettable account of a desperate refugee child hiding from the fancy tourists in a famous game park. In contrast, Woody Allen has contributed his hilarious New Yorker piece lampooning the financier whose kid was turned down by a prestigious Manhattan preschool. There are also fine stories by Margaret Atwood, Hanef Kureishi, Arthur Miller, Salman Rushdie, and more. A good display title for World AIDS Day, December 1, 2004. Hazel Rochman

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