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Vendor
Liepman Literary Agency
Marc Koralnik
Original language
English

ON IMMUNITY: An Inoculation

Eula Biss

"Eula Biss accomplishes two remarkable things in this book. She efficiently dismantles the wall between self-documentation and world-documentation. And she synthesizes a vast amount of information into the haunting and inescapable conclusion that 'we are continuous with everything here on earth, including—and especially—each other.'"--Sarah Manguso
Why do we fear vaccines? A provocative examination by Eula Biss, the author of Notes from No Man's Land, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award

In this bold, fascinating book, Biss investigates the metaphors and myths surrounding our conception of immunity and its implications for the individual and the social body. As she hears more and more fears about vaccines, Biss researches what they mean for her own child, her immediate community, America, and the world, both historically and in the present moment. She extends a conversation with other mothers to meditations on Voltaire's Candide, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Susan Sontag's AIDS and Its Metaphors, and beyond. On Immunity is a moving account of how we are all interconnected—our bodies and our fates.

EULA BISS is the author of Notes from No Man's Land, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in criticism, and The Balloonists. Her essays have appeared in the Believer, Harper's, and the New York Times.
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Book

Published 2014-09-01 by Graywolf Press

Comments

Top Ten Book of the Year

"[Biss] lays out an argument for vaccination that encompasses literature, history, science, and her fears and questions when deciding to vaccinate her own children. She brings a sober, erudite, and humane voice to an often overheated debate." The New Yorker Read more...

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Top 10 Books of 2014

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“Top Ten Book of the Year”

Selected by The New York Times as one of the 10 best books of the year Read more...

Top 100 Books of the Year

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Ranked #2 in Best Nonfiction of 2014

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Top 10 Books in Science & Health for 2014

Mark Zuckerberg announced that he has selected ON IMMUNITY as the fourth book for his Facebook 'Year in Books' reading group Read more...

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"So well written, it's unbelievable."