Maneater: And Other True Stories of a Life in Infectious Disease [Hardcover]

Pamela Nagami (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2001

Most of us think nothing of that salad for lunch, that insect bite, that swim in the sea; yet these all bring human beings into contact with dangerous, even deadly microorganisms. In Maneater, Nagami discusses the shocking and amazing cases of bacterial and viral infections she has encountered in her career as an infectious disease specialist. Through personal accounts, she reveals the facts about some of the deadliest diseases: the warning signs, treatments, and most compellingly, what it feels like to make the medical and ethical decisions that can mean the difference between life and death.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

As a "bugs and drugs doc," Pamela Nagami has seen some of the worst diseases known to humankind--flesh-eating strep, parasitic worms that zigzag through the brain, and AIDS, the biggest infectious disease emergency around. Some of the infections profiled in Maneater can smolder for years before rearing up and killing their unsuspecting human host; others seem innocuous, like chickenpox, which can nevertheless devastate a body. Others, like malaria, travel from other countries, but equally dangerous microbes live in American soil, just waiting to be disturbed by a backhoe or a runner and inhaled in a single breath. These indelible dispatches from the frontlines of infectious disease reveal the danger lurking in everything from salads to the air we breathe, the heroic actions of doctors faced with these bizarre cases on a daily basis, and the limits of medical miracles. Like a detective unraveling a crime scene, Nagami shows us how the most innocuous actions can hurt us, or save our lives. --Lesley Reed

Review

"Nagami zooms in like a microscope on infections. She presents them, with all their drama, in the context of how they alter patients' and doctors' lives. Along the way, she conveys an amazing amount of medical information that's easy to absorb. Using her sharp storytelling skills, she illustrates for us how vulnerable we all are to microscopic intruders and how having the right doctor on our side can mean the difference between living and becoming another statistic in the morbidity reports."—Jane E. Allen, Los Angeles Times

"In the tradition of Microbe Hunters, Maneater is a fascinating account of a physician's struggles on behalf of her patients against the terrifying underworld of infectious diseases. Dr. Nagami is a compelling writer whose insatiable curiosity about bacteria and viruses never comes at the expense of those who suffer from them."—Frank Huyler, M.D., author of The Blood of Strangers

"A physician of great medical skills and writing talent . . . Nagami, in her fine book, conveys her humanness, warmth, and caring concern as a physician, and as a person. She helps reestablish our faith in medical practice. After reading Maneater, at the first sign of microbial invasion you would want to call her to take care of you. I know I would."—Robert S. Desowitz, Ph.D., author of The Malaria Capers

"[In Maneater] the vigor of hope is preserved, even in the face of the final incapacity. The depth of a humane vision is maintained to the end. The physician's own failings and shortcomings (for there is a limit to medical skills, despite the much-vaunted progress) are made into a route of escape from a ruinous sense of superiority . . . We all enjoy the physician's chronicle of the mighty struggle. It is a war that concerns us all, whose episodes are always fascinating. All the more so when told, as in these pages directly, truthfully, and clearly, by a front-line veteran."—F. Gonzalez-Crussi, M.D., Emeritus Professor of Pathology (from the foreword to Maneater)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 287 pages
• Publisher: Renaissance Books; 1st edition (November 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580632092
• ISBN-13: 978-1580632096
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,081,303 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've learned so much from Dr. Nagami, December 14, 2001

By 

Hal Grotke "biophile2" (Fairhaven, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Maneater: And Other True Stories of a Life in Infectious Disease (Hardcover)

OK, first my prejudice--I am a resident physician working in the hospital where Dr. Nagami spends most of her professional time in recent years. She volunteers her time to teach me and my colleagues about infectious disease as well as her other specialties, internal medicine and geriatrics. She is brilliant in every way a resident would like an attending to be--knowledgable, insightful, out-going, pleasant, extraordinarily respectful of everyone around her, funny and overflowing with stories of her invaluable experiences.

That said I love her book. It helps that I recognize many of the characters. It helps, too, that I can hear her voice as I read it (partly because she has read excerpts to us on rounds). It is, nonetheless, an inspiring, touching, and, yes, educational work. Oh, and even though physicians who read it will find it educational that does not mean that it is in any way outside comprehension of other readers. I was tempted to skim past some of the short, plain language explanations aimed at the lay reader, but found even those sections to be helpful to the flow of the text. Not condescending, not verbose--just part of the story.

This is a wonderful book I would recommend to anyone. Sure it has particular appeal to those with special interest in health-related issues, it is also a pleasant look at humanism and spirituality.

Thanks, Dr. Nagami.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars USC Med Student, November 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Maneater: And Other True Stories of a Life in Infectious Disease (Hardcover)

Dr. Pamela Nagami M.D.'s Maneater is one of the most fascinating books I've read as a med student, and one of the most captivating reads I've had in a long time. Her detailed explanation of various diseases that so many people are ignorant of was more intriguing and exciting than any lecture I've ever attended. I highly recommend it not only to the curious med student, but anyone who wants to learn how the simplest actions in life can prove to be the most deadly.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! What a page turner!, November 6, 2001

By 

Kyu Kang (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maneater: And Other True Stories of a Life in Infectious Disease (Hardcover)

My girlfriend gave me this book because of my interest in medicine. I expected to find a dry account of several cases of diseases, but what I got instead was a gripping account of one inspirational doctor's career in the dangerous field of infectious diseases. Dr. Nagami not only lets you inside her field, but also inside her head as you read what it is like to make life-and-death decisions on a daily basis. The tales were shocking, but also extremely informative and exciting. This reads almost like a detective novel, with Dr. Nagami searching for the invaders that are ruining her patients' bodies. An overall excellent book that will keep you entertained for hours.