The premonition : a pandemic story

This was interesting but on some level I think I wish it was a more definitive retelling of what happened nationwide during the early days of the pandemic and didn't just focus on California. I understand Lewis had to use the sources he had, but as a New Yorker, I wanted to read about how things were unfolding on the East Coast as well. I also thought the book ended somewhat abruptly and the bit about Charity burying a piece of herself next to that patient she thought she failed was weird and seemingly out of step with the rest of the book.

Certainly a page turner and full of colorful characters written in Lewis' intelligent and witty style but I wish it were more rigorous. There seems to be an entire section of this book missing, which speaks to how entertaining it is to read Michael Lewis' work but also the narrow focus of this project, which is far more interested in drawing a picture of how American institutions of public health collaborate on their dysfunction. I'll admit, the portrait of the CDC was all new for me, and very convincing. I can't help but feel, after an election where nearly half of all Americans voted for an orange, idiotic villain, that the change we really need, the profound rethinking of the role of governmental institutions in our society (from police unions to public health administration), their keeping pace with technological advancements, and the integration of new, innovative solutions which can span the tumult of political temperature changes, are too difficult to implement. Not design, implement. Until a decisive political stance emerges from the ashes of the last 4 years it would seem all we can do is understand how broken our state has become.