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From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Looming Tower, and the pandemic novel The End of October: an unprecedented, momentous account of Covid-19—its origins, its wide-ranging repercussions, and the ongoing global fight to contain it From the fateful first moments of the outbreak in China to the storming of the U.S. Capitol to the extraordinary vaccine rollout, Lawrence Wright’s The Plague Year tells the story of Covid-19 in authoritative, galvanizing detail and with the full drama of events on both a global and intimate scale, illuminating the medical, economic, political, and social ramifications of the pandemic. Wright takes us inside the CDC, where a first round of faulty test kits lost America precious time . . . inside the halls of the White House, where Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Pottinger’s early alarm about the virus was met with confounding and drastically costly skepticism . . . into a Covid ward in a Charlottesville hospital, with an idealistic young woman doctor from the town of Little Africa, South Carolina . . . into the precincts of prediction specialists at Goldman Sachs . . . into Broadway’s darkened theaters and Austin’s struggling music venues . . . inside the human body, diving deep into the science of how the virus and vaccines function—with an eye-opening detour into the history of vaccination and of the modern anti-vaccination movement. And in this full accounting, Wright makes clear that the medical professionals around the country who’ve risked their lives to fight the virus reveal and embody an America in all its vulnerability, courage, and potential. In turns steely-eyed, sympathetic, infuriated, unexpectedly comical, and always precise, Lawrence Wright is a formidable guide, slicing through the dense fog of misinformation to give us a 360-degree portrait of the catastrophe we thought we knew.

The Plague Year: America in the Time of Covid is a nonfiction book by Lawrence Wright, published in 2021. The book chronicles the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, from the early days of the outbreak in Wuhan, China, to the widespread lockdowns and economic devastation that followed.

Wright, a staff writer for The New Yorker, draws on interviews with scientists, public health officials, politicians, and ordinary Americans to tell the story of the pandemic. He also delves into the history of pandemics and the scientific and political challenges of responding to them.

The Plague Year is a gripping and informative account of one of the most significant events in recent history. Wright's clear prose and insightful analysis make the book essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on America.

Key Themes in The Plague Year

• The importance of science and public health: Wright emphasizes the critical role that science and public health played in responding to the pandemic. He highlights the work of scientists who developed vaccines and treatments and the public health officials who implemented measures to slow the spread of the virus.
• The failure of leadership: Wright also criticizes the Trump administration's handling of the pandemic. He argues that the administration's downplaying of the virus and its resistance to taking decisive action led to unnecessary deaths and suffering.
• The impact of the pandemic on society: Wright explores the profound impact the pandemic has had on American society. He discusses the economic devastation caused by the lockdowns, the rise in mental health problems, and the widening of social inequalities.

Conclusion

The Plague Year is a powerful and moving account of the COVID-19 pandemic. Wright's clear prose and insightful analysis make the book essential reading for anyone who wants to understand one of the most significant events in recent history.