The Premonition: A Pandemic Story

3.5 stars. The title is accurate - this is a pandemic story, not the pandemic story. Anyone looking for a comprehensive account of COVID-19 will be disappointed. Michael Lewis instead offers what he does best, profiling several interesting, little known individuals (no Dr. Faucis here) who played key roles in the early response to the pandemic, and occasionally zooming out to get the bigger picture. The book jacket indicates otherwise, but this is not an indictment of Donald Trump. In fact, Lewis believes that 45 was only a “comorbidity” of the problem. There were other factors that were arguably much more important, including the lack of coordination among government agencies, the CDC's reluctance to take any action that might make them look bad, the profit motive of healthcare companies, and the woefully underfunded, isolated county and state public health departments. There were definitely heroes like the ones Lewis depicts who worked long hours for little pay and no recognition, but the deck was always stacked against them.I was surprised that Lewis devotes more than half of the book to events that took place prior to the first known COVID case. His point is that the seeds of the tragedy were sown long before Trump insisted that the situation was under control. But it makes for some frustrating reading, as I spent the first 150 pages wondering when Lewis was going to get to the good stuff. And then he just kind of trails off at the end, with a whimper instead of a bang. I was a big fan of Lewis' previous book, [b:The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy 46266188 The Fifth Risk Undoing Democracy Michael Lewis https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1562687004l/46266188.SY75.jpg 62158447], but The Premonition feels a bit half baked.