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4.42 AVERAGE
4.42 AVERAGE
informative
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Gore, Blood, Excrement, Murder
Minor: Ableism, Drug use, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury
Illness, including in animals. Animal injury. Animal and human experimentation. Brief descriptions of necropsies/autopsies. G slur in name of species.
informative
fast-paced
I lived this book. It was a fast read for me because I loved the topic and each chapter was a different disease
4.5 ⭐
capolavoro che tutti dovrebbero leggere almeno una volta nella vita
capolavoro che tutti dovrebbero leggere almeno una volta nella vita
Author travels, interviews, and provides color to a broad range of zoonotic diseases (those which can be transmitted to humans from animals). Woven together to make good reading. Very timely reading during the COVID-19 pandemic (it discusses coronaviruses and provides some context and background, but does not have a section with specific incidents and details like some other viruses).
Spillover is the latest book written by David Quammen. It's an all you wanted to know about viruses and more. You'll read how a virus are defined by negatives, what zoonosis has got to do with viruses and why you should fear a spillover. The writing is brilliant, ever so entertaining - the author goes as far as describing the physical appearance of his interviewees, how they dressed and sometimes what was on the menu some of which isn't appetizing at all - while making the science comprehensible even for non scientists. It sometimes read as an adventure novel. Some sentences are really unique, there are quite a few gems in there. They'd jolt me up wondering if I had indeed just read what I read. I can't locate my favorite one about how the humans were not euthanized put out there just as if it were an afterthought. An example would be "The first animal virus discovered was the one causing foot and mouth disease, another sore problem to agriculture. Cattle and swine passed it to one another, like a sneeze on the breeze..." At over 500p, it's not a quick read but it was definitely entertaining, definitely scary to grasp the possibilities of what spillovers imply and to have the humans be called an outbreak...
This is a really readable book about a topic that's both complex and rather terrifying. The author does a good job explaining the science in a way that doesn't condescend, which is nice. He often acknowledges that some details can be difficult to understand and walks you through them.
The author also does a good job with the terrifying part. Some things are made less scary while other become more so.
One interesting way the author went about writing the book is to actually visit the scientists in person and talk with them. It brings an extra sense of connection.
The author also does a good job with the terrifying part. Some things are made less scary while other become more so.
One interesting way the author went about writing the book is to actually visit the scientists in person and talk with them. It brings an extra sense of connection.
This was an absolutely fascinating book. A bit of a tome with 600 pages each were filled with so many fascinating and terrifying facts. I will never think the same way about all the close interactions between human and animal.
It's hard to imagine a more important book to read right now. I heard the author on Fresh Air back in January, when the pandemic was just getting started. I work tangentially in public health and thought it would be good for me to understand the situation so I got the book from the library.
It's a bit of tome. About 600 pages, although the last chunk of pages are notes, so I think it came in at about 515 pages to read. And it's dense, not something you can breeze through. But worthwhile.
It's clear that this book was more than an assignment for Quammen, a science writer who often writes for National Geographic. It's an avocation for him, something that has gnawed at him throughout his career and his life, with a desire to answer why>
He takes you through several outbreaks, some small and localized, others wider and more dangerous. Hendra, Ebola, SARS, and more. He introduces you to the scientists and virologists studying these diseases, names you won't see in the headlines but folks who clearly share his avocation.
I'm amazed at the depth of his research, the journeys to China, Africa, Australia. He treks out into the jungle, visit wet markets, helps get blood samples from macaques. He talks to doctors, lab techs, and people who've been exposed to deadly viruses and survived.
His interest in this topic spans about twenty years at the time of this book's publication (2012). In that time, some of the researchers he interviews pass away themselves (usually of natural causes). He digs into history going back one hundred years.
Everything about this book is prescient. We are living out the cautionary tale of this book right this very minute. The conspiracy theories that abound right now are mind-boggling. Reading this book it's easy and clear to see that a pandemic of this sort was just waiting to happen. The only disappointment is that we weren't prepared despite the preponderance of evidence.
It's a bit of tome. About 600 pages, although the last chunk of pages are notes, so I think it came in at about 515 pages to read. And it's dense, not something you can breeze through. But worthwhile.
It's clear that this book was more than an assignment for Quammen, a science writer who often writes for National Geographic. It's an avocation for him, something that has gnawed at him throughout his career and his life, with a desire to answer why>
He takes you through several outbreaks, some small and localized, others wider and more dangerous. Hendra, Ebola, SARS, and more. He introduces you to the scientists and virologists studying these diseases, names you won't see in the headlines but folks who clearly share his avocation.
I'm amazed at the depth of his research, the journeys to China, Africa, Australia. He treks out into the jungle, visit wet markets, helps get blood samples from macaques. He talks to doctors, lab techs, and people who've been exposed to deadly viruses and survived.
His interest in this topic spans about twenty years at the time of this book's publication (2012). In that time, some of the researchers he interviews pass away themselves (usually of natural causes). He digs into history going back one hundred years.
Everything about this book is prescient. We are living out the cautionary tale of this book right this very minute. The conspiracy theories that abound right now are mind-boggling. Reading this book it's easy and clear to see that a pandemic of this sort was just waiting to happen. The only disappointment is that we weren't prepared despite the preponderance of evidence.
Superbly written! An incredible read... So informative, terrifying and thorough in his research. David Quammen is a truly great writer.
An enjoyable book with a good balance of science, thrills, and humour. This book highlights the most horrifying aspect of spillovers: we still don't know much.