Pre-Order Now · Releases June 27, 2026
Small TownRage
Fighting Back in the Deep South
By Dr. David W. Hylan Jr.
"A raw, unflinching account of what it means to stand up when everything around you demands you sit down."
— Advance Praise
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"They wanted silence.
I gave them rage."
— Dr. David W. Hylan Jr., Small Town Rage
About the Book
When the System Fails You,
You Fight Back
In the heart of the Deep South, where silence is expected and compliance is demanded, Dr. David W. Hylan Jr. refused to bow. Small Town Rage is the unflinching story of one man's battle against the forces of injustice, corruption, and systemic oppression in a community that wanted him to disappear.
Part memoir, part manifesto, this book is a rallying cry for every person who has ever been told to sit down, stay quiet, or know their place. It is a testament to the power of defiance — and the cost of standing up.
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The Author
Dr. David W. Hylan Jr.
Dr. David W. Hylan Jr. is a scholar, activist, and survivor whose life has been defined by the refusal to accept injustice as inevitable. Raised in the Deep South, he has spent decades fighting the systems that sought to silence him and communities like his.
His work spans academia, community organizing, and public advocacy — always rooted in the lived experience of those who have been pushed to the margins. Small Town Rage is his most personal and powerful statement yet.
Advance Praise
What People Are Saying
"David Hylan preserves the voices of those who refused to be silent when silence was killing us. Small Town Rage honors the courage of a community abandoned by its leaders, churches, and neighbors yet determined to demand humanity in the Deep South. This book reminds the world that activism didn't just happen in coastal cities; it took root in Shreveport, in the Bible Belt, where speaking out came with a price. ACT UP Shreveport was more than a movement — it was a lifeline. Our rage was small only in geography. In heart and purpose, it was boundless."
— ACT UP Shreveport
"David Hylan has written a powerful book on HIV in the South — in Louisiana — at the beginning of the epidemic when the only response had to be one of rage, solidarity, love, rebellion and advocacy in the form of ACT UP-Shreveport. A beautiful tale of hope and ultimate transcendence in the fight against AIDS in the deep South."
— Monica Gandhi, MD Director, UCSF-Bay Area Center for AIDS Research (CFAR)
"David Hylan's beautiful prose is in stark contrast to the apathy, ignorance, and outright persecution that he documents in this jolt to the conscience of a city that equated conformity with character and homosexuality with eternal damnation. Hylan's writing deeply honors the desperate struggle of local AIDS activists as they realized the fight couldn't be limited to the highly publicized coastal cities, but that 'ordinary people refusing to wait quietly for permission to live' could act up anywhere! And they did ever: opening eyes, saving lives, building a strong community, bringing lasting change, and paving the way for future activists in this deeply conservative Southern city."
— Adrienne Critcher, PhD, Co-Founder of PACE, People Acting for Change and Equality, NW Louisiana's primary advocacy organization for the LGBTQ+ community
"From protest lines to hospital halls, ACT UP Shreveport fought for one thing above all — dignity. David Hylan's Small Town Rage honors that fight, reminding us that The Philadelphia Center stands as its living legacy."
— Chris Miciotto, LCSW-BACS, ACSW, Executive Director, The Philadelphia Center
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