The Premonition

 

The premonition: a pandemic story / Michael Lewis, 319 pgs.

Hmmm, I wonder how this story will end up?  A book by Michael Lewis is always a treat. He can bring the humanity to anything terrible and there is plenty of terrible here.  No, this isn't a big expose of the previous administration or individual failure, it really shines a light on the system that was supposed to work but is set up to fail.  Public health is is the science of protecting and improving the health of people and their communities. There is a system in the U.S. and it is not impressive.  It is poorly designed and poorly funded, and yet there are people out there giving it their all.  The perspective is interesting.  The gaps are wide.  How are we going to fix this?

Unlocked

Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome by John Scalzi, 143 pages

A companion to his novels Lock In and Head On, Unlocked gives the backstory of Haden's syndrome, the debilitating disease that forms the center of those two novels, through people who researched the disease; the people who live with Haden's; politicians who funded the moonshot effort to cure it; and the journalists who covered it.

Considering this is a fictitious disease, it's a well-structured story, as any documentary or oral history would be, and it answers a lot of questions that the Orcs & Aliens book group brought up during our discussion last September, showing just how much Scalzi has thought out this disease. As fantastic as this novella is, I would definitely recommend reading Lock In first.

Influenza: the Hundred-year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History

Influenza: the Hundred-Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History / Jeremy Brown, 258 p.

In the past several years there's been some terrific writing done on the 1918 influenza pandemic; I heartily recommend both Laura Spinney's Pale Rider and John Barry's The Great Influenza for deep dives into the historical pandemic, and I'll add Dr. Brown's work, too, although its emphasis differs from the others.  Brown looks at what's happened since 1918 and the steps scientists and governments have taken to get us ready for the next round.  Influenza takes an even-handed look at controversial topics such as flu vaccine, which is handled very differently from one country to another, or antivirals such as Tamiflu, which is, depending on the source, a lobbyist-enriching hoax, or a solid contribution to humanity's defense.  I especially appreciated the chapter entitled "The Business of Flu" for its exploration of the ways in which the profit motive influences human behavior with important impacts on the health of nations.

Pale Rider: the Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World

Pale Rider: the Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World / Laura Spinney, 332 p.

Spinney's central question is why, when the flu pandemic killed such an enormous number of people - at least 50 million - it has never captured the limelight like the century's world wars, whose total deaths numbered 18 million and 60 million.  So much is packed in a realtively brief text: a history of human pandemics, theories about what caused the Spanish flu to explode, scientists' attempts to contain it, and the tremendous impact a country's infrastructure, both from a political and a public health standpoint, had on the course of disease in that locale.  Impressive for the attention drawn to the flu's ravages in non-European areas, this is a terrific read, intelligent but pitched for the general reader.

The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History

The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History by John M. Barry, 546 pages.
Barry does have an epic going here. He starts with some facts about the Great War and the flu, and then he doubles back and gives us the history of medicine up to that point. He then presents a fascinating section on William Welch and the other medical luminaries from the late 19th and early 20th centuries who were changing the way medical science was researched and the way in which medical care was given. Barry does a wonderful job of bringing these researchers and practitioners to life. As he takes us into the early stages of the epidemic, we also make acquaintance with the political movers and shakers of the time, so many of whom seemed to go out of their respective ways to make things worse when the "plague" hit. A really fascinating book, with so much detail, but with so much of the story still barely covered. Modern research indicates that as many as 100 million people died during the course of the pandemic, and most of those deaths took place far from the United States (though the Spanish Flu started here). Untold millions died in India, China, Russia (already wracked by revolution), and in parts of the world whose inhabitants rarely encountered flu. These regions are mentioned, but are not the focus of the book.
There is a fair amount of repetition in the text. I listened to a good deal of this book on audio, so that actually helped a bit with all the names, places, and numbers. Probably a better book to read so that you can keep the vast cast straight. A landmark book, ably read by Scott Brick.

The Blondes

The Blondes by Emily Schultz, 384 pages

Imagine what would happen if a certain (and somewhat arbitrary) segment of the worldwide population suddenly became susceptible to an uncontrollable disease. What would happen to society? How would we, as a race, respond? That's exactly what happens in Schultz's The Blondes, in which blonde women (whether naturally blonde or bottle blonde) of all ages suddenly begin contracting a rabies-like disease, causing them to become viciously violent to everyone they encounter. This book is told by redhead Hazel Hayes, who finds out she's pregnant on the first day of the outbreak, and explains the pandemic (and ensuing biocontainment measures) to her unborn child while attempting to avoid those with the disease.

I'm still not entirely sure what I thought of this book. I liked Schultz's wry observations and cynical look at post-9/11 security measures, though I would have liked a little wider view of the pandemic. But I can definitely see how it might appeal to fans of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven, and the fantastic graphic novel series Y: The Last Man. If you liked any or all of those, give this one a whirl.

The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

The Dog Stars by Peter Heller, 320 pages.

Peter Heller composes a lyrical and nostalgic tale of a man longing for a world that was. Hig, widowed by the plagues that have swept across the world, lives now in an abandoned airfield. He spends his days flying his 1956 Cessna-looking for maurauders- with only his dog, and a perpetually angry, and heavily armed survivalist for company. He dreams of his dead wife as he watches what little is left of his world succumb to newer diseases and climate change. Bittersweet and broken-hearted.

A really beautiful book. One of this year's best.-Patrick

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The Dog Stars

The Dog Stars by Peter Heller  319 pp.

In the post-pandemic U.S. there are few people left. Hig, the main character, lost his pregnant wife to the virus. He lives with his best friend, a blue heeler dog named Jasper. They have found a place to live at an abandoned air field. His only "neighbor" is a weapons fanatic named Bangley. Hig flies an old, single engine Cessna to keep an eye on things and to find supplies in nearby abandoned stores. He hunts, fishes, and gardens to survive. In spite of his circumstances, Hig retains his humanity, helping out a group of nearby Mennonites who have contracted the "blood sickness" that followed the virus. Hig has a need to find others who have survived, if for no other reason than to alleviate the loneliness. Bangley is a different sort, who would just as soon kill any stranger rather than help and is content to stay where he is, protecting it with his fire power. Hig eventually flies off in search of a radio single he heard, not knowing what he will find and finding what he doesn't expect. Considering the bleak topic, this is a gentle book, about an essentially gentle man who is just trying to survive in extraordinary circumstances. Sometimes that survival requires him to do things he would never have done in his previous life.