Review: Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus

By David Quammen

ISBN: 9781982164362

David Quammen’s Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus is not the first work of popular science nonfiction to come out of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, and certainly will not be the last. However, it is an intriguing perspective on a global viral disaster, the ramifications of which will be felt for many years to come. Quammen boldly tackles these recent events, weaving a vivid tapestry of living history across continents, crafting a narrative that is easy for any layman to follow.

Quammen begins with an open and honest author’s note, informing readers that, unlike his other works, this book—like much of the work done during the COVID-19 pandemic—was researched over Zoom. He also notes that he preserved the integrity of all his interviewees’ quotes, even in cases where that might introduce grammatical errors or some inconsistencies in language. He claims to have done so out of respect for the truth, and the result is a story that has a tangible humanity. Every expert researcher and public figure feels much more like a real person with a voice and a personality with whom one could have a conversation, not just a figurehead in a position of authority generating a quote.

One would be hard-pressed to find someone on the planet who has been alive for the past three years and not been touched by the coronavirus pandemic. Whether they’ve gotten sick themselves, or lost a loved one to the disease, or their employment has been compromised, or their entire livelihood been at risk or lost, everyone has a COVID-19 story. Quammen’s approach to documenting the race around the globe to identify, vaccinate against, and hopefully eradicate this disease is ever-aware of that sensitivity, that this is not a thing of the past—this is a very real, and in many ways very traumatic worldwide phenomenon.

Breathless, however, isn’t just about COVID-19. It includes a broader series of snapshots in history, including earlier SARS, avian flu and swine flu epidemics. As a world, our scientific understanding of how the coronavirus transmits and replicates comes from decades of research and experience with other diseases. Quammen makes sure to interweave these relevant contexts into the broader narrative of COVID-19 when necessary. The result is deeply compelling.

In some ways, Breathless is reminiscent of Richard Preston’s The Hot Zone, a 1994 nonfiction book about viral hemorrhagic fevers, such as Ebola. Breathless is less of a chilling thriller than Preston’s work, which it needs to be in order to be tactful, given the ongoing nature of the pandemic. However, it is just as fast-paced and quick to read, each short chapter giving way to the next, until you realize you’ve hit the credits—which are extensive. Quammen takes the time to provide a brief blurb for every single person he interviewed while writing the book, including information about the date of the interview, what they discussed, and their professional background.

Jeanette S. Ferrara, MFA