An exhaustive and accessible report.
A holistic study of how allergies continue to bewilder medical science.
As a medical anthropologist, MacPhail’s subject matter is both professional and personal. In 1996, her father died suddenly of anaphylaxis after a bee sting. That event prompted the author to carry an EpiPen and to launch a research project examining the “puzzle of allergies.” In a deft three-part analysis, she probes the biological processes of allergens and the misconceptions surrounding them. She then examines the “confusing maze” of diagnosis and the causative theories on why allergies are proliferating, and she explores possible solutions and the progress medical science has made (outside of antihistamines) treating global allergy issues, including the development of promising new vaccines. MacPhail cites historical information from the early 1800s, when the first allergy was medically documented, and consistently attempts to nail down the ever shifting definitions of what allergies actually are, tackling the vexing question of origin with informed speculation. Whether it be the cumulative effects of environmental changes, industrial development, food additives, or genetic mutations, specific people seem more vulnerable to certain allergens. The author optimistically reflects on modern immunological advancements that have provided relief, and she presents a series of crisply rendered perspectives of people who cited severe allergies to airborne allergens, dust mites, or specific foods—all frustrated by the lack of a definitive cause or the unaffordability/unavailability of longer-term remedies. “In a capitalistic system,” she writes, “a patient is akin to a customer.” While the culprits responsible for the increases in allergic sufferers are debatable moving targets, MacPhail skillfully narrows down the possibilities and some of the solutions, although her contradictory advice on air purifiers may confuse readers seeking solace. Nonetheless, the author’s examination of the science of immunology from a social and cultural perspective will give readers plenty of relevant, thought-provoking information.
An exhaustive and accessible report.Pub Date: May 30, 2023
ISBN: 9780593229194
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
Alternately admiring and critical, unvarnished, and a closely detailed account of a troubled innovator.
A warts-and-all portrait of the famed techno-entrepreneur—and the warts are nearly beyond counting.
To call Elon Musk (b. 1971) “mercurial” is to undervalue the term; to call him a genius is incorrect. Instead, Musk has a gift for leveraging the genius of others in order to make things work. When they don’t, writes eminent biographer Isaacson, it’s because the notoriously headstrong Musk is so sure of himself that he charges ahead against the advice of others: “He does not like to share power.” In this sharp-edged biography, the author likens Musk to an earlier biographical subject, Steve Jobs. Given Musk’s recent political turn, born of the me-first libertarianism of the very rich, however, Henry Ford also comes to mind. What emerges clearly is that Musk, who may or may not have Asperger’s syndrome (“Empathy did not come naturally”), has nurtured several obsessions for years, apart from a passion for the letter X as both a brand and personal name. He firmly believes that “all requirements should be treated as recommendations”; that it is his destiny to make humankind a multi-planetary civilization through innovations in space travel; that government is generally an impediment and that “the thought police are gaining power”; and that “a maniacal sense of urgency” should guide his businesses. That need for speed has led to undeniable successes in beating schedules and competitors, but it has also wrought disaster: One of the most telling anecdotes in the book concerns Musk’s “demon mode” order to relocate thousands of Twitter servers from Sacramento to Portland at breakneck speed, which trashed big parts of the system for months. To judge by Isaacson’s account, that may have been by design, for Musk’s idea of creative destruction seems to mean mostly chaos.
Alternately admiring and critical, unvarnished, and a closely detailed account of a troubled innovator.Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9781982181284
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
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BOOK TO SCREEN
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.
The chef, rapper, and TV host serves up a blustery memoir with lashings of self-help.
“I’ve always had a sick confidence,” writes Bronson, ne Ariyan Arslani. The confidence, he adds, comes from numerous sources: being a New Yorker, and more specifically a New Yorker from Queens; being “short and fucking husky” and still game for a standoff on the basketball court; having strength, stamina, and seemingly no fear. All these things serve him well in the rough-and-tumble youth he describes, all stickball and steroids. Yet another confidence-builder: In the big city, you’ve got to sink or swim. “No one is just accepted—you have to fucking show that you’re able to roll,” he writes. In a narrative steeped in language that would make Lenny Bruce blush, Bronson recounts his sentimental education, schooled by immigrant Italian and Albanian family members and the mean streets, building habits good and bad. The virtue of those habits will depend on your take on modern mores. Bronson writes, for example, of “getting my dick pierced” down in the West Village, then grabbing a pizza and smoking weed. “I always smoke weed freely, always have and always will,” he writes. “I’ll just light a blunt anywhere.” Though he’s gone through the classic experiences of the latter-day stoner, flunking out and getting arrested numerous times, Bronson is a hard charger who’s not afraid to face nearly any challenge—especially, given his physique and genes, the necessity of losing weight: “If you’re husky, you’re always dieting in your mind,” he writes. Though vulgar and boastful, Bronson serves up a model that has plenty of good points, including his growing interest in nature, creativity, and the desire to “leave a legacy for everybody.”
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4478-5
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
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