Extraordinary measures during extraordinary times, documented meticulously if somewhat academically.
A thorough account of the events leading to the Covid-19 lockdown in Wuhan, China, in early 2020, drawing from dozens of personal accounts (“lockdown diaries”).
The outbreak of SARS (another coronavirus) in 2003 had prepared the Chinese health community for the detection of mysterious cases of pneumonia in late December 2019 and early January 2020. However, when hospitals and physicians such as Li Wenliang sounded the alarm, they were censured for spreading “unverified information.” Wenliang later died of the virus, becoming a kind of martyr. From Jan. 4 to Jan. 20, life for the city of 11 million went on as usual, with huge festivities for the Lunar New Year as well as several political congresses, despite the alarming news about the pneumonia cases. “The 20-day delay in informing the public was irresponsible state behavior, to say the least,” writes Yang, a professor of sociology and digital culture at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is the deputy director of the Center for the Study of Contemporary China. Despite authoritative strictures put in place over the past decade, and with the ascendancy of Xi Jinping and his emphasis on “civility” and “positive energy,” internet culture and netizen protests had strengthened, giving power to regular citizens. By the time of the lockdown on Jan. 23, when emergency mobilization measures were implemented, people began to take the matter into their own hands, reverting to behaviors not seen since the Cultural Revolution—e.g., the use of loudspeakers (“blunt force regulation” in order to “reduce bureaucratic discretion”) warning people to stay indoors, chanting slogans, neighborhood watchdog associations, and other instances of belligerence, resilience, and endurance among the Wuhan population. The tone may be too scholarly for some readers, but that does little to diminish the power of the diaries, which clearly demonstrate this emotionally trying period of lockdown.
Extraordinary measures during extraordinary times, documented meticulously if somewhat academically.Pub Date: Feb. 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-231-20047-9
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Columbia Univ.
Review Posted Online: Oct. 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
A compelling journey into the heart of darkness with an articulate, capable guide.
An investigation of evil and how it manifests in our society.
As an acclaimed journalist, Sullivan, author of Graveyard of the Pacific, Dead Wrong, and other books, thought of himself as a man of reason and intelligence, with a good dose of cynicism. Then, when covering the wars that tore apart Yugoslavia, he confronted too many atrocities to believe that nothing was behind them. The author sensed the presence of evil and began to research the origin of it, which led him to the fundamental figure of malignity. While researching the book, Sullivan brushed against inexplicable, personal incidents—e.g., a weird threat from a well-dressed stranger, an ominous letter in his mailbox, the dream image of a black dog. The author shows how Christianity gave the Devil a personification, a central role, and a name. Sullivan looks at the theologians who wrestled with the conflict between the persistence of evil and the presence of an omnipotent God, finding that none of them reached a satisfying conclusion. He also studies a number of serial killers and murders, as well as accounts of a carefully documented, nightmarish exorcism that lasted four months in Iowa in 1928. Yet somehow, writes Sullivan, the Devil has been able to convince everyone that he does not exist, so is “able to hide in plain sight because of the cover we all give him with our fear, our denial, our rationalization, [and] our deluded sense of enlightenment.” The author believes that the Devil is real, but, he adds, each of us is responsible for our own decisions. This is not an easy book to read, and some parts are profoundly disturbing. Sullivan offers crucial insights, but timid readers should think carefully before entering its dark labyrinth.
A compelling journey into the heart of darkness with an articulate, capable guide.Pub Date: May 14, 2024
ISBN: 9780802119131
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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