From ancient Rome, where gladiators drank the blood of vanquished foes to gain strength and courage, to modern-day laboratories,where machines test blood for diseases and scientists search for elusive cures, Bill Hayes takes us on a whirlwind journey through history, literature, mythology, and science by way of the great red river that runs five quarts strong through our bodies. Hayes also recounts the impact of the vital fluid in his daily life, fronm growing up in a household of five sisters and their monthly cycles to his enduring partnership with an HIV-positive man. As much a biography of blood as it is a memoir of how this rich substane has shaped one man's life,Five Quarts is by turns whimsical and provocative, informative and moving.

From Publishers Weekly　Starred Review.Hemophobes beware： there are five quarts of blood in the human body， and Hayes(Sleep Demons： An Insomniac's Memoir)pours all of them into this book.A gay man living in San Francisco with an HIV-positive partner， Hayes uses his own encounters with blood's ability to save and destroy lives as a launching point for anecdotes in the larger story of blood.His personal history runs like a river through this book， picking up the flotsam and jetsam of blood lore.He launches into an account of the discovery of blood's components and its function in the body， and meanders through cultural perceptions of blood， from the sacred(the Eucharist)to the profane(Dracula).Hayes ranges far beyond red and white blood cells， platelets and plasma， taking readers inside a modern blood bank and to the bedside of a woman with hemophilia; his keen perceptions show how the ancient view of blood as the essence of a person's soul still pervades our modern vocabulary and views on the vital fluid.His sometimes irreverent commentary on misconceptions about blood doesn't shy away from the gruesome， particularly a cringe-inducing description of early blood transfusion techniques.With his strong writing and a unique approach， Hayes satisfyingly addresses this life force.B&w illus.