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The Premonition: A Pandemic Story
New York Times Bestseller
For those who could read between the lines, the censored news out of China was terrifying. But the president insisted there was nothing to worry about.
Fortunately, we are still a nation of skeptics. Fortunately, there are those among us who study pandemics and are willing to look unflinchingly at worst-case scenarios. Michael Lewis’s taut and brilliant nonfiction thriller pits a band of medical visionaries against the wall of ignorance that was the official response of the Trump administration to the outbreak of COVID-19.
The characters you will meet in these pages are as fascinating as they are unexpected. A thirteen-year-old girl’s science project on transmission of an airborne pathogen develops into a very grown-up model of disease control. A local public-health officer uses her worm’s-eye view to see what the CDC misses, and reveals great truths about American society. A secret team of dissenting doctors, nicknamed the Wolverines, has everything necessary to fight the pandemic: brilliant backgrounds, world-class labs, prior experience with the pandemic scares of bird flu and swine flu…everything, that is, except official permission to implement their work.
Michael Lewis is not shy about calling these people heroes for their refusal to follow directives that they know to be based on misinformation and bad science. Even the internet, as crucial as it is to their exchange of ideas, poses a risk to them. They never know for sure who else might be listening in.
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Reviews
Great insight into what was and wasn’t happening when Covid hit our shores. It’s unfortunate that the leaders of our country didn’t listen more closely to the few people who knew what it meant, a lot of lives could have been saved.
By mikemac1956
I found this to be an interesting but not compelling book in which the author highlights the models of social distancing, closing of schools, masking and banning of gatherings based on the Spanish Flu and Swine Flu pandemics when it is clear in retrospect that COVID-19 was a very different pathogen which no one understood as the virus emerged from China. His portrayal of the CDC as impotent and more concerned with data gathering than protecting American citizens rings true as well as the local and state health departments underfunding and lack of federal support and guidance which remains true today. What he best does is raise awareness of how little we learn from history when policies are dictated by politics. Too much angst and not enough focus on the politics driving our political leaders at the time which would have given this book some balance.
By Gary Manko
Couldn’t put it down and the “characters” who are real people are so inspiring and interesting. It makes me sad how much the CDC has lost its way. Thankfully, there were other doctors and scientists willing to go around them.
By jbk2361571
Enjoyed the inside look at behind the scenes processes in a crisis.
By sailing pro
Never thought a non fiction book could be a page turner.
By MAB USA