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jarcher's review against another edition
2.0
This is just a personal preference rating, not commentary on the quality of the book. Mixed memoir/history/pop-science is very en vogue at the moment and I am burnt out. This book was also written for someone with a little less public health/medical knowledge than I and someone who enjoys memoirs a bit more. I did learn an important fact: that Chagas is transmissible in utero, which is something I definitely should have been taught in medical school.
squrrl_grrrl's review
5.0
I find myself "enjoying?' this genre of hybrid illness memoir/investigative reporting. This offering comes with a healthy dose of latinx diaspora, of which I leaned a great deal. Much thanks to the author for bringing to these pages a deadly disease and the stories of those afflicted.
As someone who still suffers from long term Lyme I found myself nodding along at some of the stories. Particularly typhoid Mary. For while seeing one of my numerous doctors prior to diagnosis, this doctor suggested that I live near section 8 housing ie: poor filthy people, and that I probably got bit by something walking by their apartment? I spent days reading about typhoid, hiding in fear and shame and paranoia, trying to identify the disgusting culprits. Who didn't exist by the way. I didn't go back to that doctor. Just another example of how we treat those in poverty.
I really enjoyed this book, I raced through it like a great mystery while simultaneously being grateful for all the work being done to build awareness. I think their tià would be proud.
As someone who still suffers from long term Lyme I found myself nodding along at some of the stories. Particularly typhoid Mary. For while seeing one of my numerous doctors prior to diagnosis, this doctor suggested that I live near section 8 housing ie: poor filthy people, and that I probably got bit by something walking by their apartment? I spent days reading about typhoid, hiding in fear and shame and paranoia, trying to identify the disgusting culprits. Who didn't exist by the way. I didn't go back to that doctor. Just another example of how we treat those in poverty.
I really enjoyed this book, I raced through it like a great mystery while simultaneously being grateful for all the work being done to build awareness. I think their tià would be proud.
bristlecone's review
4.0
I was surprisingly pleased with the depth of discussion about Chagas disease in this book. I often find disease biographies written as family histories short on that end. But this was very well done. The author weaves scientific information into her family's narrative gracefully. She also provides excellent discussion of the issue of neglected diseases, the epi divide, the failure of the US health system, and our shared vulnerabilities.
reagangrambusch's review
4.0
The beginning was slightly frustrating because I went into this expecting a medical book, and got parts of a memior and personal stories. However, in the middle, it becomes a lot easier to read and includes many different explanations and investigative journalism that was written with excitement. Some parts dragged on, but overall, the pace after about 75 pages was great, and I overall enjoyed the read. This is a great book for anyone interested in diseases common among masses of people without access to proper healthcare. It discusses many difficulties relating to race and these diseases, as well as the politics involved.
booksaremypeople's review
4.0
Tia Dora, the author’s aunt, is sick with Chagas, a parasitic disease. Transmitted to humans by kissing bugs. Medication can help, but the problem is the fact that few people are diagnosed, which means few people receive treatment. The parasite can live inside their human hosts for up to thirty years as they disrupt the electric currents of the heart, leaving behind basically these tiny eaten holes in the heart tissue. It sounds terrible. And it became known as the Kissing Bug Disease, which is a cute name for a terrible disease. Since the Daisy Hernandez’s aunt had this disease, she’s close to it and the book looks at her aunt’s experience as well as the history of the disease. six million people are living with chagas, about 300,00 in the United States and they are primarily immigrants from South American, Central America and Mexico and more than 10,000 people die annually from this disease. I learned a lot about Kissing bugs and parasites and many of the ignored scientists who uncovered so much information about this disease. It was interesting to focus just on one disease in particular and understand how socio-economic status really is responsible for what illnesses governments choose to invent in and what groups of people they choose to protect or neglect. And the author has really done her research here. For more book reviews, listen to BOOKS ARE MY PEOPLE, my book recommendation podcast for book lovers.
balletbookworm's review
5.0
Bumped this up my TBR because Lupita raved about it on her IG - and it was a really good book to read in clinic while waiting for the centrifuge to finish between subjects. Appropriate, too, because infectious disease and public health.
An outstanding blend of memoir and science journalism. Pick this one up immediately.
An outstanding blend of memoir and science journalism. Pick this one up immediately.
sabrinayenvy's review
4.0
It is crazy to think that so many people grow up in a space where we ignore disease if it doesn’t affect us. There is so much out there we don’t know but at the same time it’s so unbalanced in how we get that knowledge or even care. This was a great representation of something part of the world considers normal while the other think it’s a rare occurrence.