Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus
The most fatal virus known to science, rabies-a disease that spreads avidly from animals to humans-kills nearly one hundred percent of its victims once the infection takes root in the brain. In this critically acclaimed exploration, journalist Bill Wasik and veterinarian Monica Murphy chart four thousand years of the history, science, and cultural mythology of rabies. From Greek myths to zombie flicks, from the laboratory heroics of Louis Pasteur to the contemporary search for a lifesaving treatment, Rabid is a fresh and often wildly entertaining look at one of humankind's oldest and most fearsome foes.
"A searing narrative."-The New York Times "In this keen and exceptionally well-written book, rife with surprises, narrative suspense and a steady flow of expansive insights, 'the world's most diabolical virus' conquers the unsuspecting reader's imaginative nervous system. . . . A smart, unsettling, and strangely stirring piece of work."
-San Francisco Chronicle "Fascinating. . . . Wasik and Murphy chronicle more than two millennia of myths and discoveries about rabies and the animals that transmit it, including dogs, bats and raccoons."
-The Wall Street Journal
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Community Reviews
This is a fabulous and fascinating book. A very interesting and intriguing history of rabies and it's place in culture and science and folklore. I learned a lot from this book, much of it quite surprising. Highly recommended.
First of all, if any animal bites you, go directly to the doctor to get a rabies vaccine. Also, if you wake up in room with a bat, even if you have no evidence it bit you. Or die.
There appears to be a limited amount of things that you can learn about rabies such as how to prevent it, how to treat it in its earliest stages, what death from rabies looks like, and new research in how to potentially treat it in its later deadly stages. All that scientific information would fill one or two chapters. The other chapters are historical entertainment. The book covers the earliest mentions of rabies in Roman times up to current flair ups in places like Bali. The book also engages in numerous tangents about the animals that transmit rabies: dogs, wolves, bats, skunks, and raccoons. And even more tangents about literature and movies about rabies, vampires, werewolves, and zombies because the author must have been trying to reach a particular word count. It's interesting though and it's fun. It's not especially educational but not all nonfiction books are I guess.
There appears to be a limited amount of things that you can learn about rabies such as how to prevent it, how to treat it in its earliest stages, what death from rabies looks like, and new research in how to potentially treat it in its later deadly stages. All that scientific information would fill one or two chapters. The other chapters are historical entertainment. The book covers the earliest mentions of rabies in Roman times up to current flair ups in places like Bali. The book also engages in numerous tangents about the animals that transmit rabies: dogs, wolves, bats, skunks, and raccoons. And even more tangents about literature and movies about rabies, vampires, werewolves, and zombies because the author must have been trying to reach a particular word count. It's interesting though and it's fun. It's not especially educational but not all nonfiction books are I guess.
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