PositiveThe Georgia ReviewThe genre of the realist novel, which can contain multiple plot lines, various character and narrator perspectives, and diverse contexts, may be the antidote to the blind spot hidden within science textbooks and medical articles in this current age of germ theory. Wright’s novel capitalizes on all the potential of the genre to show that its virus is a logical consequence of multiple current world circumstances. Wright is not a prophet, but rather an expert at seeing the connections between phenomena occurring in different contexts and on different scales. He describes the vast complexities and contradictions of international politics at the same time that he explores the minuscule world of viral genetics and the mechanisms of disease transmission. And he pointedly illustrates the ties that bind these microscopic and macroscopic worlds together, revealing that the biological is always also political ... Wright’s tightly crafted narrative includes precisely those facts necessary to trace the chains of causation from Indonesia to our local supermarket and from individual choice to global catastrophe.
