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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In 1765, Venetian doctors were stumped by the death of a man who had suffered from insomnia for more than a year and spent his final months paralyzed by exhaustion. Over the next two centuries, many of his descendants would develop similarly fatal symptoms, with a range of misdiagnoses, from encephalitis to alcohol withdrawal. Finally, in the early 1990s, their disease was recognized as a rare genetic form of prion disease. The family reluctantly shared their history with Max, who has written about science and literature for the New York Times Magazine and other publications. Max (inspired in part by his own neuromuscular disorder) has crafted a powerfully empathetic account of their efforts to make sense of their suffering and find a cure. But this is only half the story. Looking at prion disease in general, Max doubles back to the English mad-cow epidemic of the 1990s, retracing established backstories among New Guinea aboriginals and European sheep herds. There's enough fascinating material—in particular, a theory suggesting that early humans were nearly wiped out by a plague spread by cannibalism—to keep readers engaged, but they're likely to want still more about the genuinely captivating family drama. (Oct. 3)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From The New Yorker
Beginning with the story of an Italian clan whose members die of a mysterious inability to sleep, Max traces science's tortuous path toward understanding prion diseases—a category that includes scrapie in sheep, B.S.E. in cows, and kuru, a disease spread by cannibalism which decimated one New Guinean tribe. Victims of fatal familial insomnia lose control of neuromuscular function, existing in a merciless limbo between sleep and wakefulness until they die of exhaustion. For a half century, prion diseases have baffled scientists, because the transmission of illness by proteins, which are non-living, was considered impossible. Max, who suffers from a distantly related neuromuscular disease, narrates recent advances in prion science with engaging clarity. But, as he reflects ruefully, "the neurologist can diagnose you but he can't cure you."
Copyright © 2006 Click here to subscribe to The New Yorker
See all Editorial Reviews
In 1765, Venetian doctors were stumped by the death of a man who had suffered from insomnia for more than a year and spent his final months paralyzed by exhaustion. Over the next two centuries, many of his descendants would develop similarly fatal symptoms, with a range of misdiagnoses, from encephalitis to alcohol withdrawal. Finally, in the early 1990s, their disease was recognized as a rare genetic form of prion disease. The family reluctantly shared their history with Max, who has written about science and literature for the New York Times Magazine and other publications. Max (inspired in part by his own neuromuscular disorder) has crafted a powerfully empathetic account of their efforts to make sense of their suffering and find a cure. But this is only half the story. Looking at prion disease in general, Max doubles back to the English mad-cow epidemic of the 1990s, retracing established backstories among New Guinea aboriginals and European sheep herds. There's enough fascinating material—in particular, a theory suggesting that early humans were nearly wiped out by a plague spread by cannibalism—to keep readers engaged, but they're likely to want still more about the genuinely captivating family drama. (Oct. 3)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From The New Yorker
Beginning with the story of an Italian clan whose members die of a mysterious inability to sleep, Max traces science's tortuous path toward understanding prion diseases—a category that includes scrapie in sheep, B.S.E. in cows, and kuru, a disease spread by cannibalism which decimated one New Guinean tribe. Victims of fatal familial insomnia lose control of neuromuscular function, existing in a merciless limbo between sleep and wakefulness until they die of exhaustion. For a half century, prion diseases have baffled scientists, because the transmission of illness by proteins, which are non-living, was considered impossible. Max, who suffers from a distantly related neuromuscular disease, narrates recent advances in prion science with engaging clarity. But, as he reflects ruefully, "the neurologist can diagnose you but he can't cure you."
Copyright © 2006 Click here to subscribe to The New Yorker
See all Editorial Reviews
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prion researchers, scrapie researcher, kuru victims, prion gene, cow protein, scrapie infected sheep, scrapie agent, familial insomnia Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Creutzfeldt Jakob, New Guinea, Sir Mac, World War, Carleton Gajdusek, Nobel Prize, United States, Garden State Race Track, Port Moresby, San Francisco, Gran Dolina, Stanley Prusiner, Jakob Creutzfeldt, Gerstmann Scheinker, Piazza San Marco, Alan Dickinson, Michael Alpers, Central Veterinary Laboratory, Raymond Williams, Vincent Zigas, Allen Mahan, Fred Cohen, Sir Donald, Richard Marsh, Carrie Mahan Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
prion researchers, scrapie researcher, kuru victims, prion gene, cow protein, scrapie infected sheep, scrapie agent, familial insomnia Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Creutzfeldt Jakob, New Guinea, Sir Mac, World War, Carleton Gajdusek, Nobel Prize, United States, Garden State Race Track, Port Moresby, San Francisco, Gran Dolina, Stanley Prusiner, Jakob Creutzfeldt, Gerstmann Scheinker, Piazza San Marco, Alan Dickinson, Michael Alpers, Central Veterinary Laboratory, Raymond Williams, Vincent Zigas, Allen Mahan, Fred Cohen, Sir Donald, Richard Marsh, Carrie Mahan Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
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