Washington Post journalists Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta's account of the Trump administration's mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the politicization that has led to more than a half million American deaths and counting.
In general, the book is not strong or detailed on the scientific nuts and bolts. This is not a place to come if you want to understand the nitty-gritty of why the CDC’s test development went so very awry. But Abutaleb and Paletta are on the money when it comes to the challenges in formulating policy advice on the basis of science that was not fully settled ... We will be examining the mistakes and missteps of 2020 for decades, probably centuries. This book will be one of the places future historians will start, if far from where they will finish.
This is a book that was written with speed and diligence. Whether it will appeal to you depends on how enticed you feel by the authors’ promise to delve into 'the decisions, meetings and moments that shaped one of the worst years in U.S. history' and 'to document it all' ... They generally make good on that promise ... There are scoops in this book, but for the most part they’re more like teaspoons of weak tea than substantive revelations ... This book as a whole lacks the narrative verve of recent books...about the pandemic.
[Abutaleb and Paletta] offer a thoroughly damning picture of America’s response to the pandemic ... A well-informed accounting of the nation under siege.
