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On Immunity: An Inoculation Kindle Edition

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Eula Biss (Author)
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Eula Biss (Author)
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Length: 224 pages Word Wise: Enabled Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
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Product Details

  • File Size: 441 KB
  • Print Length: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Graywolf Press; Reprint edition (September 30, 2014)
  • Publication Date: September 30, 2014
  • Sold by: Macmillan
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B00KUY4D7W
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
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  • Word Wise: Enabled
  • Lending: Not Enabled
  • Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,037 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsParents and doctors / This is a "Must Read" for you / It's wisdom and truth
By S. Goldstein on October 1, 2014
Format: Hardcover
I work in pediatrics- a field that deals with immunizations and questions about immunizations on a daily basis. I have lectured about vaccines to numerous parent and medical groups. There are a cornucopia of books about vaccines out there, and there are many that are good and very good. On Immunity is just excellent.

In my medical training, during the late 1990's-early 2000's, we were taught very little about how to discuss vaccines with parents. The attitude was that the doctor would tell the parent "your child is getting some shots today" and the parent would say "that's great, thanks!" and we would all go on with our day. When I entered the real world, I found that parents had many questions - some crazy and some very legitimate. As I was about to have my own child, I worried that some of the fears I was hearing could be true, and I spent a great deal of time doing further research. In the subsequent years, I put together a lecture that addressed the common fears about vaccines, and discussed with families and other health care workers the validity of those fears. I read many good books about vaccines (like the Mnookin book, and some of Paul Offit's books). I also read some bad ones (the Sears book, Jenny Mccarthy's odd views). On Immunity is definitely at the top of the heap.

If you are a parent who wants to understand the truths and consequences about vaccines in a concise but literate way, or if you are a health care worker who wishes you had a better way of framing answers to questions from concerned families, then you absolutely must read this book. It is gripping but light, short but detailed, and above all it is true. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
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5.0 out of 5 starsBrilliant, profound exploration of cultural and historical forces that culminate in the decision not to vaccinate
By Amy R. on October 2, 2014
Format: Hardcover
ScienceThrillers Review: On Immunity: An Inoculation by Eula Biss is an extraordinary, unclassifiable, vital book that deserves to be widely read and reflected upon. Written by a critically acclaimed essayist, On Immunity is a memoir, an essay collection, a history, a social commentary, a parenting guide, a literary work...The author herself has a hard time succinctly answering the question, "What is your book about?"

I'll tell you what On Immunity is about by telling you why it's an important book. As a scientist and medical professional myself, I "believe" in vaccination. My kids get their immunizations on schedule, I get my flu shot every fall. I bristle when I encounter anti-vaccine people and propaganda. And like many other people in my shoes, I look at the data on the benefits versus risks of vaccination, and I wonder why "those people" don't get it. Essentially, I'm asking, "What is WRONG with those people?"

But did I ever truly, honestly explore the question from a more neutral perspective, not, what is wrong with vaccine refuseniks, but, why do they perceive the world so differently from the way I do?

Fortunately, Eula Biss has deeply explored this important question, and in unfailingly beautiful, intelligent prose, she has answered it with a depth and breadth that astonishes.

Clinical study data have nothing to do with it, which really shouldn't surprise anyone. In how many aspects of our lives do we ignore data and make decisions based on other considerations? Many-no, most.

Biss makes crucial insights into the numerous complex streams that feed the anti-vaccine movement. To begin, she uses an ongoing metaphor of the vampire. The act of injecting a foreign substance into the body is fraught with metaphysical significance.Read more ›
7 Comments 75 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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5.0 out of 5 stars"A child cannot be kept from his fate, though this does not stop the gods themselves from trying."
By Amelia Gremelspacher TOP 1000 REVIEWER on October 2, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
"I am no longer fearless." She is a new mother who finds that the most perilous thing we may do is to bear children. No longer an entity contained within her skin, she sets off to determine the real risks inherent in inoculations, among other interventions in the modern world. she notes in a lucid voice, that to act is to start the future in motion, and to do nothing still sets that future in its course.

I found this to be an amazing voice who has placed the fears and and anxieties of our modern medicine in the context of our existence as true beings in the whole of our world. Her various observations of the philosophy of immunizations are truly startling and clear in her well researched discussions of the role of science in our world.

She makes a cogent argument for out inability to rationally assess true risk in the face of fear. In another instance, her discussion of "herd immunity" point to the obligation that those who have access to care have to those who do not. The risk of contagion is much higher for one person who is inoculated among many who are not than for a person not inoculated in a crowd of those who are. The more people who are protected, the more protection for those who are not protected. She also explores the continuum of our bodies with the world around us, and notes that toxicity to a scientist is one of degree of exposure. While she does not address the evils of high fructose syrup, plastics bleeding toxins or other villains in definitive terms; she does point out that each threat must be taken in context.

This is a book that challenges the mind without torturing the reader with obscure or overly technical writing. The education on risk, immunity, ad the role of medicine in our world is succinct and at times lyrical. I cannot recommend this book too highly.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsGreat read

I was given this book as a gift after expressing my interests in vaccine research and advocacy. Throughout the book, I searched for quips that showed the author's own opinions on... Read more

Published 17 days ago by J.M
5.0 out of 5 starsFascinating history.

Considering that immunization is probably the greatest medical advance of our time, this is an interesting and thorough history of it.

Published 23 days ago by Alan G
1.0 out of 5 starsOne Star

Did not back up her statements with facts or statistics.

Published 25 days ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsBeautifully written, well researched

This important topic is covered in a way that is respectful to diverse viewpoints.

The imagery is so lovely it boarders on poetry. Read more

Published 1 month ago by rachel mandell
5.0 out of 5 starsInteresting, informative, beautiful, and transcendant

What a wonderful book! I expected it to be informative, and it certainly was. But I wasn't expecting it to be so beautiful. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Infared Cow
5.0 out of 5 stars... a narrative that is both science writing and a brilliant example...

This book accomplishes a narrative that is both science writing and a brilliant example of the personal essay genre. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Quique
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

A very interesting read about sociological and philosophical concepts of vaccinations.

Published 2 months ago by rf1
3.0 out of 5 starsBeautifully Written, But Highly Biased

This book was a fascinating experience in contrasts. The author's writing is beautiful; I can't recall the last time I saw anyone so skillfully weave together topics as disparate... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Burgundy Damsel
5.0 out of 5 starsAppeal to reason

Great book on a timely topic. Biss avoids the usual vaccine arguments and appeals to reason and instinct. I wish more people would argue her way.

Published 4 months ago by Jennifer potts
4.0 out of 5 starsThis book is a clear argument for vaccination. It ...

This book is a clear argument for vaccination. It address the the claims of the anti-vac crowd and points out the irresponsibility and selfishness of that view. Read more

Published 4 months ago by anne a

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