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Karl Taro Greenfeld

China Syndrome: The True Story of the 21st Century's First Great Epidemic Paperback – January 9, 2007

by Karl Taro Greenfeld (Author)

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“China Syndrome is a fast-moving, truth-is-stranger-than-fiction thriller that doubles as an excellent primer of emerging infections for scientists and laypeople alike. But that’s not all. For readers more captivated by world politics than by microbiology, its chief strength, beyond the superb writing, is a detailed look at China’s culture of secrecy in the throes of a global public health crisis.” — Los Angeles Times

When the SARS virus broke out in China in January 2003, Karl Taro Greenfeld was the editor of Time Asia in Hong Kong, just a few miles from the epicenter of the outbreak. After vague, initial reports of terrified Chinese boiling vinegar to "purify" the air, Greenfeld and his staff soon found themselves immersed in the story of a lifetime.

Deftly tracking a mysterious viral killer from the bedside of one of the first victims to China's overwhelmed hospital wards—from cutting-edge labs where researchers struggle to identify the virus to the war rooms at the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva—China Syndrome takes readers on a gripping ride that blows through the Chinese government's effort to cover up the disease . . . and sounds a clarion call warning of a catastrophe to come: a great viral storm potentially more deadly than any respiratory disease since the influenza of 1918.

Print length

464 pages
Language

English
Publication date

January 9, 2007
Dimensions

5.31 x 1.05 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

0060587237
ISBN-13

978-0060587239
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A compelling writer...China Syndrome echoes the sort of gritty, breathless thriller pace that Richard Preston employed 10 years ago in The Hot Zone." -- Washington Post

"Greenfeld does a great job of evoking the scenes and bringing all the personalities to life....Like a prosecutor building his case, Karl lays out how Chinese government officials kept a lid on all medical reports, labeling them top secret and keeping them not only from the rest of the world but from other Chinese doctors who might have used them to save their patients." -- Christine Gorman, TIME Global Health Update

“Fine reporting...a scientific whodunnit....Taro Greenfeld does well to convey the sense of excitement of the hunt to identify Sars.” -- Financial Times

"Greenfeld offers little hope that the Chinese have learned any lesson, for it’s back to business-as-usual for Shenzhen’s wild-animal trade, and he ponders the nature and purpose of viruses as he paints a rather gloomy picture of what we and the World Health Organization can expect next." -- Booklist (starred review)

"A work of riveting, relevant journalism...a dexterous approach that recalls Randy Shilts’s AIDS history And the Band Played On." -- The Village Voice

“An excellent and in-depth look at a frightening episode--a bullet that the world dodged--and not insignificantly, a fascinating and penetrating look into modern China.” -- John M. Barry, author of The Great Influenza

“A thrilling, important book. . . . Anyone who cares about how Avian bird flu or some other future infectious epidemic may occur, and anyone who wants to understand how China works, must read this book.” -- Walter Isaacson, author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

“A sensational minute-by-minute account of fear and heroism in the battle against a pandemic that almost happened—and could happen any day now. It is also one of the best books I have read about another modern mystery, day-to-day life in China today.” -- Richard Reeves, author of Ronald Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination

“China Syndrome is a timely and frightening reminder that our increasingly heavily populated, high-speed and mobile world has become one big Petri dish of potential pestilence. The only antidote is an active and open media and a responsive and truthful system of public information and health. This book is both a first step towards that goal and a fascinating read.” -- Orville Schell, Dean of the Graduate School of Journalism, UC Berkeley, and author of Mandate of Heaven

"A taut scientific thriller, well told." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Greenfeld’s ground zero perspective on SARS...brings reportorial immediacy to this chronicle of how epidemiologists realized that the cases of “atypical pneumonia” scattered throughout Asia were the initial wave of severe acute respiratory syndrome, a new strain of avian flu." -- Publishers Weekly

“With The China Syndrome, Greenfeld provides both a fascinating glimpse of life in modern-day China and an account of a pandemic averted that has all the suspense of a good thriller.” -- New Atlantis

“This book is a parable for our times.” -- New Statesman

From the Inside Flap

Deftly tracking a mysterious viral killer from the bedside of one of the first victims to China's overwhelmed hospital wards--from cutting-edge labs where researchers struggle to identify the virus to the war rooms at the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva--China Syndrome takes readers on a gripping ride that blows through the Chinese government's effort to cover up the disease . . . and sounds a clarion call warning of a catastrophe to come: a great viral storm potentially more deadly than any respiratory disease since the influenza of 1918.

--John M. Barry, author of The Great Influenza

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Perennial; 1st edition (January 9, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 464 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0060587237
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0060587239
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 1.05 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #802,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #152 in Lung & Respiratory Diseases
- #156 in Respiratory Diseases (Books)
- #246 in Forensic Medicine (Books)

Customer Reviews:
98 ratings

About the author

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Karl Taro Greenfeld

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Karl Taro Greenfeld is the author of seven books, including the novel Triburbia, the much-acclaimed memoir Boy Alone; NowTrends; China Syndrome; Standard Deviations; and Speed Tribes. Greenfeld's writing has appeared in Harper's, The Atlantic, The Paris Review, Ploughshares, Best American Short Stories and The PEN/O Henry Prize Stories among other publications. A veteran editor and writer for The Nation, TIME, and Sports Illustrated, Karl has also been a frequent contributor to Bloomberg Businessweek, The New York Times, GQ, Vogue, Conde Nast Traveler, Playboy, Men's Journal, The Washington Post, Outside, Wired, Details, and Salon. Born in Kobe, Japan, Karl has lived in Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo and TRIBECA.

Customer reviews

5 star		73%
4 star		20%
3 star		4%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Bobby Orr

A Must Read to understand Development of COVID-19

Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2020

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If there is one book I would push to people who want to know about how COVID-19 pandemic is ravaging this world, it would be this book by Mr. Greenfield. Yes, it was published in 2009, and it was about SARS, but the information teaches one about how history is repeating itself today. My regret is that I've given any previous books 5-stars because this one is truly a masterpiece. The author is a gifted writer who wove the cultural context into a description of a horrific disease known as SARS. I started to read the Sample, and I had to buy it once I devoured the Sample. I won't spoil it for anyone else. But again, I fully recommend this for anyone who is curious about the pandemic.

11 people found this helpful

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lsreeger

If you want to understand what's going on today (2020) read this book

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2020

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After you get through about the first 1/4 to 1/3 of this book it reads as though it's today. Actually, I misread the Amazon description and was disappointed when I got it -- THAT IS until I read it. Now, I totally can see what we have been going through this year. To Me, it appears that China learned from SARS and now they have managed to have a world pandemic. This is just my opinion; but, I have learned more than I had from our news sources.

Added point:

I didn't mean to say China did this; but, they were able (per news sources) to control it in China. This is a virus and with reading the book they aren't really created it's just a natural thing that happens and has been going on forever. Every once and a while one has mutated that finds it's surrounding perfect to live within and it thrives just as SARS did and COVID-19. AND from reading the book it probably won't be the last one. Swine Flu way back when was another similar to these two.

It just seems as if they are happening more often. Per sources quoted within the book, it seems to be happening more often with the world population expansion clearing more and more of the animals environment for human expansion.

I learned quite a bit about viruses and the scientists that figured out what's going on.

3 people found this helpful

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James McKeown

A Must Read For ALL. Since the new outbreak in 2020 we all need the knowledge to deal with the silent killer.

Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2020

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Found the book both informative and helpful. Certainly all Americans must learn all we can about these killers, in order to live our lives. We must learn a new way of living without becoming paranoid.

5 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

A warning heeded too late

Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2020

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One cannot read this book today without marveling at the seemingly prescient predictions the author makes about the potential of a SARS2. He convincingly demonstrates how coverups in China slowed reactions, the era of wild flavor and strange meat markets allowed for Animal viruses to cross the species barrier with scary efficiency. You couldn’t create a better breeding ground for dangerous viruses. And yet even after SARS1 the meat markets opened back up quickly. We’re just not equipped to psychologically handle low risk high impact situations. Not to mention the free rider problem that one bad country actors actions will spread across the world in short order.

3 people found this helpful

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Kathleen M Gass Shea

Almost prophetic of the 2020 pandemic and a missed warning for many

Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2020

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I started reading this in late 2019, got distracted, set it down and didn’t think much about it until spring of this year when CoVid began to bubble up. As I picked it up and began reading again it was fascinating to see how the Chinese government responded to this “first” round of Corona virus and how the conditions and issues were relevant all over again. Very interesting read- particularly in 2020.

2 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Gripping and Insightful

Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2006

Verified Purchase

There are a growing number of books coming out on the threat that viruses pose to the human population. China Syndrome is one of the latest, and it stands favorably with the best in the genre. It tells the story of the virus itself, the people who were struck down by it, and the people whose task was to track the virus down and stop it before it burned through a big part of human civilization.

Reading China Syndrome was like having a front row seat in watching how a deadly virus can claw a devastating toehold into our lives, leaving us defenseless as there is often nothing we can do about it. You learn about what makes a virus so deadly. But what is even more interesting in this account is the story of how big of a role government can play in either stopping the virus or allowing the virus to continue its destructive path.

In this case, the government was China's. It's amazing to learn of the officials incompetence, self-centeredness, and willful negligence to the Chinese and world populations at large, all to protect their own image. The arrogant incompetence of a few could have easily led to a great human catastrophe. If you are interested in the topic of threatening pandemics, then you surely should put China Syndrome on your must read list.

18 people found this helpful

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J. E. Williams

Heart-pounding read

Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2020

Verified Purchase

The writing blazes across the pages. But it also goes deep, laying out the origins of the current SARS pandemic, reminding us that there was one before this one, and there likely will be another.

2 people found this helpful

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Mark B.

This is a timely book about the SARS virus and Wet markets

Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2020

Verified Purchase

With the current Coronavirus pandemic perhaps starting in the Chinese Wet markets I wanted to understand how the Chinese government allowed these markets to continue to operate. The book answered that and explained the events surrounding the SARS outbreak in 2002. A well written interesting book about the SARS outbreak. The Chinese government behavior was shameful on many levels.

3 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

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liz heywood

a great non-fiction book!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 2, 2017

Verified Purchase

a most interesting book to add to my non-fiction collection. Well written and easily understandable for the non-scientific person! Would definnately buy more from this author and this seller!

Kindler

Engaging and interesting

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 2, 2020

Verified Purchase

Very good book.

Joan

Captivating,informative.

Reviewed in Canada on July 14, 2020

Verified Purchase

A worthwhile read for anyone looking to understand the geopolitical and institutional barriers to deAling with a global epidemic...then and now.

montalbaran

Pure history

Reviewed in Spain on February 21, 2021

Verified Purchase

Great book, well written. Prophetic

きりぽんた

科学ジャーナリズムの見本とも言うべき良書

Reviewed in Japan on March 3, 2007

Verified Purchase

米国のイラク侵攻に隠れながらも世界を震撼させたSARSの実録。経時的に出来事を丹念に調べ、短く短編形式に分かりやすく記載している。その取材力、そして読む人を引き込む筆の力は科学報道の見本といってよい。後半部分の中国政府のタテの壁、秘密主義に隠されていた感染の実態を暴きだすプロセスは圧巻である。さらに報道の陰に隠れていた微生物学者の奮闘ぶりや、国際協力のありかたは将来に危惧されるインフルエンザパンデミックに備える意味でもきわめて示唆に富む良書である。英文も極めて読みやすく、短編形式でちょっとした合間に読み進めることができる。といっても、睡眠不足になるほど一度読み始めたら止められなくなる程に、ハラハラドキドキの展開で物語は進みますが。

One person found this helpful

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