An infectiously appealing overview of efforts to contain the potentially infectious.
A captivating survey of the uses and abuses of quarantines, from the days of the Black Death to the lockdowns of Covid-19.
Journalists Manaugh and Twilley meld a global view of a timely subject with vividly detailed accounts of quarantines, whether of people or hazardous plants, animals, and chemicals such as nuclear waste. The authors show how—since the emergence of “lazarettos,” the quarantine hospitals of medieval Venice and other Adriatic ports—authorities have strived to contain dreaded hazards. Among many others, these have included the bubonic plague, yellow fever, tuberculosis, Ebola, and cholera. Yet some problems resist solutions. “Although the advent of advanced contagion modeling, location tracking, and data mining offer the promise of refining quarantine, rendering it so minimal and precise as to be almost imperceptible,” the authors write, “the use of those tools during COVID-19 has demonstrated that, in many ways, effective quarantine has changed remarkably little since its origins during the Black Death.” Persistent challenges include the tedium of isolation, the architectural rigors of designing suitable facilities, and the xenophobic use of quarantine “to obstruct the passage of undesirable immigrants at the border and stigmatize those who have already arrived.” For such risks, the authors propose fresh, sensible remedies such as a “bill of rights” for the quarantined. But a larger charm of this smart book lies in their ability to bring potentially dry topics to life. They profile the delightfully “obsessive” founder of the Disinfected Mail Study Circle (which tracks epidemics through postal evidence), and, after visiting a greenhouse near London, they note that cacao-plant diseases have contributed to a shrinking global chocolate supply that may lead to a “chocpocalypse.” Chocoholics, beware: One study found that in a decade or so, “a Hershey bar may well be as rare and expensive as caviar.”
An infectiously appealing overview of efforts to contain the potentially infectious.Pub Date: July 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-374-12658-2
Page Count: 416
Publisher: MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
Maher calls out idiocy wherever he sees it, with a comedic delivery that veers between a stiletto and a sledgehammer.
The comedian argues that the arts of moderation and common sense must be reinvigorated.
Some people are born snarky, some become snarky, and some have snarkiness thrust upon them. Judging from this book, Maher—host of HBO’s Real Time program and author of The New New Rules and When You Ride Alone, You Ride With bin Laden—is all three. As a comedian, he has a great deal of leeway to make fun of people in politics, and he often delivers hilarious swipes with a deadpan face. The author describes himself as a traditional liberal, with a disdain for Republicans (especially the MAGA variety) and a belief in free speech and personal freedom. He claims that he has stayed much the same for more than 20 years, while the left, he argues, has marched toward intolerance. He sees an addiction to extremism on both sides of the aisle, which fosters the belief that anyone who disagrees with you must be an enemy to be destroyed. However, Maher has always displayed his own streaks of extremism, and his scorched-earth takedowns eventually become problematic. The author has something nasty to say about everyone, it seems, and the sarcastic tone starts after more than 300 pages. As has been the case throughout his career, Maher is best taken in small doses. The book is worth reading for the author’s often spot-on skewering of inept politicians and celebrities, but it might be advisable to occasionally dip into it rather than read the whole thing in one sitting. Some parts of the text are hilarious, but others are merely insulting. Maher is undeniably talented, but some restraint would have produced a better book.
Maher calls out idiocy wherever he sees it, with a comedic delivery that veers between a stiletto and a sledgehammer.Pub Date: May 21, 2024
ISBN: 9781668051351
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change.
Artist and activist Vaid-Menon demonstrates how the normativity of the gender binary represses creativity and inflicts physical and emotional violence.
The author, whose parents emigrated from India, writes about how enforcement of the gender binary begins before birth and affects people in all stages of life, with people of color being especially vulnerable due to Western conceptions of gender as binary. Gender assignments create a narrative for how a person should behave, what they are allowed to like or wear, and how they express themself. Punishment of nonconformity leads to an inseparable link between gender and shame. Vaid-Menon challenges familiar arguments against gender nonconformity, breaking them down into four categories—dismissal, inconvenience, biology, and the slippery slope (fear of the consequences of acceptance). Headers in bold font create an accessible navigation experience from one analysis to the next. The prose maintains a conversational tone that feels as intimate and vulnerable as talking with a best friend. At the same time, the author's turns of phrase in moments of deep insight ring with precision and poetry. In one reflection, they write, “the most lethal part of the human body is not the fist; it is the eye. What people see and how people see it has everything to do with power.” While this short essay speaks honestly of pain and injustice, it concludes with encouragement and an invitation into a future that celebrates transformation.
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change. (writing prompt) (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09465-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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