Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus

By Monica Murphy and Bill Wasik

Book Overview

From Greek myths to zombie flicks, from the laboratory heroics of Louis Pasteur to the contemporary search for a lifesaving treatment, Rabid is a fresh and often wildly entertaining look at one of humankind's oldest and most fearsome foes.

The most fatal virus known to science, rabies--a disease that spreads avidly from animals to humans--kills nearly one hundred percent of its victims once the infection takes root in the brain.

In this critically acclaimed exploration from the authors of Our Kindred Creatures, journalist Bill Wasik and veterinarian Monica Murphy chart four thousand years of the history, science, and cultural mythology of rabies.

"A searing narrative." --The New York Times

"Fascinating. . . . Wasik and Murphy chronicle more than two millennia of myths and discoveries about rabies and the animals that transmit it, including dogs, bats and raccoons." --The Wall Street Journal

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0143123572
• ISBN13: 9780143123576
• Release Date: June 2013
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 7.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Wild Ride

I know what you're thinking, "How could you possibly write a 300 page work about a disease that's largely been eradicated in the modern world? Even if you could, wouldn't it be about as interesting as a dissertation on the composition of sand?" Admittedly, I bought this book because of the Fun Run episode of The Office, however, I was hooked! Who knew that rabies was so fascinating? The first few chapters were a bit arduous for me, but after surpassing that initial hurdle, I was enthralled. I found myself staying up way too late and babbling excitedly to my bewildered coworkers the next day, "Dude, I have got to tell you about Louis Pasteur." Highly recommend.