tetromino's review
3.5
One of those stories that is so important, and so appalling in terms of sheer incompetence, callousness, and disregard for facts, science, or children's safety. That being said the writing is, at times, a bit dry or hard to keep track of the many characters, but still a book that should be read to understand the malicious origins of the vaccine hesitancy pandemic.
lookleft's review
challenging
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
3.5
Brian Deer's prose is very idiosyncratic, you feel as though you're having a conversation with him. Even if that conversation drags at times.
hollowhallow13's review
Written too much like a long form newspaper/expose. Bit too narrative for me
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
sheva's review
3.0
Good but terribly dry. Unfortunately the much more palatable layman's adaptation of the work , Hbomberguy's youtube video, isn't suited for people who wouldn't be able to tolerate some of the meme-ridden silliness. For them, this book will have to suffice, which is too bad for something so important.
anaiira's review
5.0
I firmly believe that this is a book people ought to read. It is the deepest, most comprehensive and accessible to the layperson review of a near 30 year controversy. I will admit, I did also find issue with the style of reporting in this book. There is an unfortunate tendency to gloss over certain details when reporting on the "drier" scientific papers, even whilst repeating scientific jargon without real context or explanation. Ironically, anecdotes are given more space and depth in this book aiming to prove that anecdotes should not be trusted more than research. There are parts of this book that feel like the author couldn't decide if he wanted to write a memoir of his biggest journalistic accomplishment or write an extremely deep dive exposé of one of the biggest medical scandals of our current generation.
My personal grievances with the manner of presentation aside -- phenomenal book, thorough documentation. While reading it, I really got a sense of the sheer breadth of scam that Wakefield and Co had undertaken and continue to perpetuate. I got a sense of how slow and onerous it was to get the established medical profession to take the now infamous antivaccination paper seriously and I got a sense of how, despite the whole scientific community throwing their weight against these so called claims, like a virus, these ideas proliferate.
I very much appreciate the chapters near the end describing the fallout and the impact not just on the world at large, but also on Wakefield's supporters. I think it really reminds us all that people aren't just blind monsters, that for all the internet and the population at large like to mock vaccine hesitancy, there's a deep well of fear that live in a lot of people.
The part where Deer talks to Mrs. Three about her child and what his life has been like is a sobering reminder of what, truly, the autism scare is like. Thankfully and wonderfully, mental health is something more spoken about now, and those on the autism spectrum have more resources and support and spokespeople, but I suspect that at that time, at the level of severity of his condition, it would have been a scary and frustrating and deeply confusing time to have a child grow up so far removed from neurotypical development and without the support that we are trying to implement today. Post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacies are very insidious and difficult to see.
In any case, this is a book worth reading, as a valuable document on the history of the modern antivax movement and how it began with a grifter who has, to this day, experienced only minor setbacks but has also garnered international infamy and conned millions into exchanging money for an echo chamber.
My personal grievances with the manner of presentation aside -- phenomenal book, thorough documentation. While reading it, I really got a sense of the sheer breadth of scam that Wakefield and Co had undertaken and continue to perpetuate. I got a sense of how slow and onerous it was to get the established medical profession to take the now infamous antivaccination paper seriously and I got a sense of how, despite the whole scientific community throwing their weight against these so called claims, like a virus, these ideas proliferate.
I very much appreciate the chapters near the end describing the fallout and the impact not just on the world at large, but also on Wakefield's supporters. I think it really reminds us all that people aren't just blind monsters, that for all the internet and the population at large like to mock vaccine hesitancy, there's a deep well of fear that live in a lot of people.
The part where Deer talks to Mrs. Three about her child and what his life has been like is a sobering reminder of what, truly, the autism scare is like. Thankfully and wonderfully, mental health is something more spoken about now, and those on the autism spectrum have more resources and support and spokespeople, but I suspect that at that time, at the level of severity of his condition, it would have been a scary and frustrating and deeply confusing time to have a child grow up so far removed from neurotypical development and without the support that we are trying to implement today. Post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacies are very insidious and difficult to see.
In any case, this is a book worth reading, as a valuable document on the history of the modern antivax movement and how it began with a grifter who has, to this day, experienced only minor setbacks but has also garnered international infamy and conned millions into exchanging money for an echo chamber.
blacksphinx's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
4.0
This was an excellent overview of Andrew Wakefield and his bullshit study that kicked off the current anti-vaccine fearmongering written by the journalist that originally exposed him. Brian Deer is a great writer and I never found myself struggling to understand the science involved.
I only had two major nitpicks - Deer coined the epithet "The Doctor With No Patients" to describe Wakefield and then proceeds to call him this way too many times. Like a maximum of three times would have been fine, but he said it more than that. And also, he makes two completely unnecessary swipes at the weight of people involved in this story. Small nitpicks for a good book!
I only had two major nitpicks - Deer coined the epithet "The Doctor With No Patients" to describe Wakefield and then proceeds to call him this way too many times. Like a maximum of three times would have been fine, but he said it more than that. And also, he makes two completely unnecessary swipes at the weight of people involved in this story. Small nitpicks for a good book!