A review by rickyvalles
The Family that Couldn't Sleep by D.T. Max

informative reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

DT Max, is a journalist that walks us through the story of an Italian family whose hereditary disease was known for over a century but yet under-explored. Through their story he peppers in the narrative of the other prion diseases and how they connect. The science in the book was minimal and sometimes I think there could have been more in order to explain how prions work. The structure was well placed and revealed  the importance of prions in our current times.

The ending was a bit of a disappointment because I feel like not much was resolved in terms of the science of prions and there’s not much money in it so there’s not a push into furthering the research. Even though the ending is open ended I would still recommend this book to anyone interested in prions or diseases.