The Demon in the Freezer

The Demon in the Freezer is a 2002 non-fiction book on the biological weapon agents smallpox and anthrax and how the American government develops defensive measures against them. It was written by journalist Richard Preston, also author of the best-selling book The Hot Zone (1994), about outbreaks of Ebola virus in Africa and Reston, Virginia and the U.S. government's response to them.

The book is primarily an account of the Smallpox Eradication Program (1967–80), the ongoing perception by the U.S. government that smallpox is still a potential bioterrorism agent, and the controversy over whether or not the remaining samples of smallpox virus in Atlanta and Moscow (the “demon” in the freezer) should be finally destroyed. However, the writer was overtaken by events — the 9/11 attacks and the anthrax letter incidents (called "Amerithrax"), both in 2001 — and so much of the book interweaves the anthrax investigation with the smallpox material in a manner some critics have said is "awkward" [1] and somewhat "disjointed." [2][3]

Synopsis

References

  1. "Scary stuff, but here's where "Demon" gets klutzy. Boxed in by the competition-which has already covered a lot of this ground -- Preston is forced into massive temporal jumps. After the anthrax attacks on Sen. Tom Daschle's office in October 2001, he flashes back to a 1970s smallpox outbreak in Germany. Then to the prehistoric origins of the virus. Then back to the 1970s, with an engaging retelling of the smallpox eradication campaign, one of the greatest feats in the history of public health. Then it's off to an examination of the Soviet bio-weapons program in 1989."; Fierman, Daniel, "Review: Gripping book about smallpox" Review in "Entertainment Weekly", Monday, October 7, 2002.
  2. According to the book's author, there was a mistaken assumption in some reviews regarding why 9/11 and the subsequent anthrax events were in a book primarily devoted to smallpox. The author's website explains it: (see About Richard Preston a few paragraphs before the end of this long, but enlightening, webpage)
  3. ”At its worst, the book sometimes feels disjointed, as if Preston is trying to weave several excellent but separate short stories into the whole cloth of a novel.”; Walter, Chip, “The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston”, Review in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Sunday, November 24, 2002.

External links

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