As Osmundson dives into the intricacies of science and medicine, he also takes time to consider the emotional toll of gauging health risks...In a world full of viruses—and especially in light of the most recent pandemic—we will always face the risk of infection, he says...He thus challenges readers to 'reframe the very notion of risk, of fear' since 'the more we all minimize risk, the less there is to fear'...Though perhaps eschewing this fear is easier said than done since, as he writes, 'there are 250 million viruses in every 0.001 liters of ocean water, and so 7,393,387,354, more than 7 billion viruses, in 1 single fluid ounce, a mouthful'...As a queer person, Osmundson candidly shares the moments he has calculated the risk of contracting HIV while having sex...At the same time, Osmundson points out that being queer provides him and others with a 'legacy and a history of care even in the face of systemic oppression'...Despite the ubiquity of viruses and their variety, Osmundson illustrates that humans and viruses evolve together. Recognizing this provides hope for all of us, he insists, especially through the development of vaccines...A collection that weaves together the raggedness of the personal with the chaos of the political... Sparkling prose, glittering insights, lucid thinking and accessible writing about sometimes difficult topics makes Virology a must-read...It’s one of the best science and medicine books of the year.

We are tasked, writes Osmundson, now as ever, 'to sacrifice, in the face of a virus, to care for one another, and yet to never lose sight of pleasure, even when both the present and the future seem impossible'...In this scrupulous and impassioned manifesto, Osmundson looks at the nature of disease—and its impact on individuals and communities—through a distinctly queer lens.

Virology: Essays for the Living, the Dead, and the Small Things in Between by Joseph Osmundson establishes itself as a unique and singular archive of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2), HIV/AIDS, queer theory, sociopolitical criticism, and a record of the viruses that are present in our guts, on our skin, and in our blood...Osmundson turns hard science into juicy, racy-queer reality accessible to anyone who decides to buy the book, read it, and live it...COVID-19 and its profound parallel to the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, both viral infections with us to this day, shows how both have redefined, in their individual ways, the way we live day to day..Virology is its own technology motivating the mind to think, write, speak, be queer, and live louder...Every inch of life is viral in distinctive yet consistent ways, entities that spread the more we live our lives, a virus being the submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates inside the living cells of an organism.

NYU microbiology professor Osmundson is a literary essayist—his models and polestars are writers like Joan Didion, Susan Sontag, and Eula Biss, though he also thoughtfully critiques their work—as well as a cleareyed science writer...His ability to explicate queer theory and epidemiology allows him to make thoughtful connections between the pandemic and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s...Then as now, he observes, racist responses to outbreaks led to scapegoating, demonization, and needless death; then as now, relationships are redefined by medications and shifting definitions of wellness...The author writes in various modes, from literary criticism to polemic (Andrew Sullivan comes in for particular scorn) to diarist, the last of which is a potent reminder of the uncertainty and fear that came with the arrival of Covid-19...Throughout, Osmundson exposes how a virus reveals societies’ connections and bigotries...A welcome, well-informed, queer-positive study of the blind spots a pandemic reveals.

Microbiologist Osmundson probes the relationship between humans and viruses in this superb essay collection...In 'On War,' Osmundson questions the use of martial rhetoric to describe outbreaks: 'Wars are won through mass death. A virus will never be dominated,' he suggests, recommending an approach to quarantine and social distancing that’s based on care and community...'On Endings' is a moving reflection on the HIV epidemic, in which Osmundson considers how 'queer people provide a model... for living rightly in a wrong world'...Indeed, throughout, he cannily interweaves queer theory and science: 'Queer childhood is waiting for the possibility to be—to make—one’s full self. Quarantine is putting the full possibility of social relations—one way to make oneself with others—on hold out of respect for the desire of living beings to keep on living,' he writes in 'On Risk'...Original and bubbling with curiosity, this is a masterful achievement.