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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
I've been reading about viruses and plagues for 40 years, both fiction and non-fiction, so I've been anticipating all the books about COVID. This one definitely delivered! Early in the pandemic I was asking what is going on with the CDC, and what happened to the pandemic planning? (We know Trump got rid of the team, but there still should have been a manual.) This book answered my questions and so much more.
Michael Lewis is one of the three best non-fiction writers today, IMO (along with Erik Larsen and Jon Krakauer). I'm so glad he took on this topic.
Michael Lewis is one of the three best non-fiction writers today, IMO (along with Erik Larsen and Jon Krakauer). I'm so glad he took on this topic.
Great book. More interesting than you would think. Def worth the read.
Not quite as good as some of his other books. However, Lewis has an incredible talent for picking out the fascinating parts of even the most trivial subjects and thinking them into gold. I think his secret talent is that he writes so accessibly about the most interesting and intelligent people as to make you feel as smart and switched on as they are.
This book in itself is a terribly sad indictment of the USA's healthcare system and its bungled response to the COVID-19 pandemic, while at the same time inspiring you with its depictions of exceptionally bright individuals.
This book in itself is a terribly sad indictment of the USA's healthcare system and its bungled response to the COVID-19 pandemic, while at the same time inspiring you with its depictions of exceptionally bright individuals.
This is a fascinating look at the doctors and scientists who tried to sound the alarm about the Covid-19 pandemic in America. They desperately try to get others to listen, to institute mitigation measures, to save as many lives as possible. Their ingenuity and willingness to work outside the box isn't vindicated; the only vindication is that they were exactly on in their worst predictions about how the pandemic could ravage America. A cautionary tale about what is broken in our country and what we need to fix before nature's next salvo hits.
challenging
informative
medium-paced
Recommend this to anyone who experienced a global pandemic…
Such concrete insights into US’s unique failure to handle the pandemic. My ears are still ringing from all the ways the CDC let us down.
Such concrete insights into US’s unique failure to handle the pandemic. My ears are still ringing from all the ways the CDC let us down.
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
If I could give it 6 stars, I would.
Or even 10.
Read this book.
Or even 10.
Read this book.
Just excellent. Lewis focuses on the failure of institutions, both public and private, that are set up to fail because the incentives are all wrong. I loved that he sidestepped the politicization of the virus and virus response—but still focuses on the failures of politicians and politics. And as always, he tells the story by focusing on great characters. Reading this on the heels of “the ugly truth” lent another layer to my feelings about that book, too.
Incentives matter. Civil servants > appointees. A successful response often looks like a failure when something terrible is thwarted. An actual failure is even worse—and we are in the middle of one of those.
Incentives matter. Civil servants > appointees. A successful response often looks like a failure when something terrible is thwarted. An actual failure is even worse—and we are in the middle of one of those.
I find that I’m much less critical of non-fiction, and I’m obviously biased that this is a great topic, but regardless of those caveats I think that most people would find the content of this book interesting. It’s especially important in providing context to the questionable decisions the CDC is making even 18+ months out from the beginning of covid in the US.