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Great Nonfiction

Michael Lewis, "The Premonition: A Pandemic Story"

Michael Lewis, "The Premonition: A Pandemic Story"

$32.40

Price includes state and local tax. Book can be picked up at the store or delivered to your home in Northwest Philadelphia. We don’t yet mail books - if you live outside of our delivery area, please visit Bookshop.org to have this great book mailed to you.

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Fortunately, we are still a nation of skeptics. Fortunately, there are those among us who study pandemics and are willing to look unflinchingly at worst-case scenarios. Michael Lewis's taut and brilliant nonfiction thriller pits a band of medical visionaries against the wall of ignorance that was the official response of the Trump administration to the outbreak of COVID-19.

The characters you will meet in these pages are as fascinating as they are unexpected. A thirteen-year-old girl's science project on transmission of an airborne pathogen develops into a very grown-up model of disease control. A local public-health officer uses her worm's-eye view to see what the CDC misses, and reveals great truths about American society. A secret team of dissenting doctors, nicknamed the Wolverines, has everything necessary to fight the pandemic: brilliant backgrounds, world-class labs, prior experience with the pandemic scares of bird flu and swine flu...everything, that is, except official permission to implement their work.

Michael Lewis is not shy about calling these people heroes for their refusal to follow directives that they know to be based on misinformation and bad science. Even the internet, as crucial as it is to their exchange of ideas, poses a risk to them. They never know for sure who else might be listening in.

Walter Iaacson, "The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race"

Walter Iaacson, "The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race"

$37.80
Carl Safina, "Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace"

Carl Safina, "Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace"

$20.52
Bill Bryson, "The Body: A Guide for Occupants"

Bill Bryson, "The Body: A Guide for Occupants"

$18.36
Robert Kolker, "Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family hidden valley road.jpg

Robert Kolker, "Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family

$18.36
Peter Wohlleben, "The Heartbeat of Trees: Embracing Our Ancient Bond with Forests and Nature"

Peter Wohlleben, "The Heartbeat of Trees: Embracing Our Ancient Bond with Forests and Nature"

$29.11