Books You Should Read But Probably Won't Part I - The American Plague (510 hits)
Category: NoneRating: -0.31 on 15 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by realpolitik (View user info) at 2007-08-17 16:14:51 EDT
Alright all you Douche bags, let's get the disclaimer out of the way. If you are looking for an entry that involves boobs, sex, GIFs, MS Paint, fiction, or any combination of the previously mentioned words, this isn't the post for you. Just click -2 "no comment" and move on. Seriously, this is a book review. It is boring, but relatively short. So here it goes.
The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic that Shaped Our History
by Molly Caldwell Crosby
I was pleasantly surprised by Mrs. Crosby's first foray into literature - the book was stunning. Not only was the prose easy to read, story was rich and exciting. She explored the history of the most famous American Doctors and the most infamous American disease. She personalized the stories of sacrifice and victory, courage and desperation, egotistical ambition and noble altruism that characterized the battle against Yellow fever. Always poignant and informative, and often times funny; Crosby draws the reader into a narrative that sometimes reads like a terrific horror story, and other times seems like an adventure novel. She makes medical history exciting and easily accessible to both the every day reader and those familiar with the subject.
She begins the story in Memphis, TN, exploring the conditions that set the city up for a disaster of epic proportions. She discusses the politics, culture, and even sanitation (or lack thereof) in Memphis and other southern cities during the 1870s. She artfully creates a sense of foreboding by contrasting the impending decadent festival of Marti Gra with the inexorable climb of Yellow Jack towards the city. I personally loved how she contrasted a vibrant Marti Gra Memphis, the envy of the country, to that of Memphis the Necropolis, the pity of the country. Her research is excellent, and she knows how to utilize the quotes to maximize the literary effect of her story. Some of the quotations and images she uncovered were absolutely chilling to say the least.
After establishing the inherent malevolence of the fever, she faithfully chronicles humanities fight to stop it. Here she leaves no stone unturned - quite a feat considering the many people and innovations used to fight this plague. What amazed me the most is she made what could very easily be dry and pedantic tales interesting. I found this part of the story dripping with Irony. By the end one suspects that Yellow Fever is actively hunting those who would attempt to destroy it. In this part of the story I particularly enjoyed the brief chapter on vivisection (more like viviSEXion hey oh!), not only is it true, but it also adds some humanity to (or maybe it detracts some humanity from) the doctors who fought so hard to discover and learn about what ailed them. It makes one appreciate the sacrifices that others made so that today there is a smallpox or measles or mumps or rubella or TB vaccine. She wonderfully records not only the exploits of Doctors like Walter Reed, but also motivations, their struggles, and their quest to kill a killer.
If the first part about Memphis was as tragic as it was terrifying, the last section is as horrifying as it is simple and true: the fever is willing and able to return to America. And it is more potent than ever. Written in the vein of Richard Preston's THE HOT ZONE or DEMON IN THE FREEZER, this section reads like an introduction to a modern day catastrophe. She accurately portrays that the fever is yet again on the hunt, and we are its prey. Woefully unprepared, America faces a foe like no other - a relentless, patient, hunter who always gets its mark.
This book is a great read, definately worth picking up if you have the time and the money.
User Reviews
Submitted by TheUniter (user info) at 2007-08-19 20:00:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Flack (user info) at 2007-08-18 04:10:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Hmm, I might check it out. Sounds intersting.
Submitted by skrapmetal (user info) at 2007-08-17 18:55:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by FALLEN (user info) at 2007-08-17 16:42:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by skrapmetal (user info) at 2007-08-17 16:37:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Here's how you write a proper book review for Uber
http://www.ubersite.com/m/2000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skrap,
what happened here?
-----
It's an Ubermystery! http://www.ubersite.com/m/2001
Submitted by FALLEN (user info) at 2007-08-17 16:42:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by skrapmetal (user info) at 2007-08-17 16:37:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Here's how you write a proper book review for Uber
http://www.ubersite.com/m/2000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skrap,
what happened here?
Submitted by FALLEN (user info) at 2007-08-17 16:41:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Man, I gots me some yellow fever once, her name Soon Lee and she had the hottest little....
what? thats not the same thing?
oh, sorry.
Submitted by Jeanneee (user info) at 2007-08-17 16:38:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
This sounds like a good book. I love history.
Next time you make a post with a self-righteous little disclaimer at the beginning, though, make sure you spell "Mardi Gras" correctly. Otherwise you look like a jackass.
Submitted by skrapmetal (user info) at 2007-08-17 16:37:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Here's how you write a proper book review for Uber
http://www.ubersite.com/m/2000
Submitted by icarus1987 (user info) at 2007-08-17 16:34:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
This would have been better if it had involved MSPaint boobs, or GIF Fiction. :(
Submitted by Amontillado (user info) at 2007-08-17 16:33:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Great review, but why should I read it?
Submitted by lover101 (user info) at 2007-08-17 16:32:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
If you arent talking about abortion or wishing shlongy a happy birthday then noone here cares. Plus you have to have at least 3 "funny" pictures off the internet everyone has seen to get a +2. This is NOT a serious writers forum.
Submitted by skrapmetal (user info) at 2007-08-17 16:26:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
*Friends.
Submitted by skrapmetal (user info) at 2007-08-17 16:26:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
You skipped right to the end of "How to Win Frineds and Influence People", didn't you?
Submitted by BobLobla (user info) at 2007-08-17 16:25:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
No Comment
Submitted by Bumpkin (user info) at 2007-08-17 16:22:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
First coupla lines said it all.
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2007-08-17 16:20:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Alright all you Douche bags, let's get the disclaimer out of the way. If you are looking for an entry that involves boobs, sex, GIFs, MS Paint, fiction, or any combination of the previously mentioned words, this isn't the post for you. Just click -2 "no comment" and move on.
OK