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bobmcbobson's review against another edition
2.0
I'm a huge Michale Lewis fan, but this was surprisingly "meh". Way too much time spent on the biographies of the people involved and way too little on the actual pandemic response. I feel like this book picks away at the edges of the story whereas his earlier work cuts right through the heart of it.
clayalbracht's review against another edition
3.0
DNF @ 30% it wasn’t bad. It hit too close to home. I’m still hurting from lockdown.
blankpagealex's review against another edition
5.0
I've been pretty wary of the inevitable onslaught of COVID books but at the same time Michael Lewis rarely disappoints and his latest was absolutely worth it. It's a fascinating glimpse into how the United States was well-prepared for a pandemic. Until one actually happened.
Lewis finds fascinating, insightful, and funny characters who he captures brilliantly. This would actually make a great double feature with his preceding book The Fifth Risk.
Lewis finds fascinating, insightful, and funny characters who he captures brilliantly. This would actually make a great double feature with his preceding book The Fifth Risk.
fishan89's review against another edition
5.0
Another fascinating tale by Michael Lewis. A brilliant read and a pertinent one that adds interesting layers to how the recent pandemic was handled from US's perspective. The characters were interesting, as they usually are in his books, and the research, immaculate. A recommended read and reread.
bsmith27's review against another edition
4.0
A good look into the team put together by W. Bush to prepare for pandemics. It follows the key players through the COVID-19 era and introduced a few new people. It gave good stories about the people.
maria_mxx's review against another edition
4.0
Very well written. Really highlights just how poor America's response was to COVID and how good it could have been, had those in power listened.
jeremy_felt's review against another edition
4.0
Good for: If you want to get angry at the CDC and government that prioritizes politics over people and lost chances to learn from the past. And, and, and.
Quick read, well written. I do think it would have been interesting to at least have some deeper perspective from various ranks of the current CDC. That *could* help the (my) general takeaway be a little less strong than “just burn it to the ground and start over.”
Quick read, well written. I do think it would have been interesting to at least have some deeper perspective from various ranks of the current CDC. That *could* help the (my) general takeaway be a little less strong than “just burn it to the ground and start over.”