![Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus [Audiobook]](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/13/22/00562213_medium.jpg)
Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus [Audiobook]
![Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus [Audiobook]](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/13/22/00562213.jpg)
Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus Unabridged Edition
by Bill Wasik, Monica Murphy (Authors)
Read by Johnny Heller
2012 | English | ISBN-13: 9781470826437 | MP3@64 kbps | 8 hrs 36 min 56 sec | 261 MB
by Bill Wasik, Monica Murphy (Authors)
Read by Johnny Heller
2012 | English | ISBN-13: 9781470826437 | MP3@64 kbps | 8 hrs 36 min 56 sec | 261 MB
In the tradition of The Emperor of All Maladies and The Great Influenza, journalist Bill Wasik and veterinarian Monica Murphy chart the history, science, and cultural mythology of rabies. In the absence of vaccination as was true up until the late nineteenth century the rabies virus caused brain infections with a nearly 100 percent fatality rate, both in animals and in humans, and the suffering it inflicted became the stuff of legend.
The transmission of the virus often from dog to man reawakened a primal fear of wild animals, and the illness violent symptoms spoke directly to mankind's fear of the beast within. The cultural response was to create fictional embodiments of those anxieties ravenous wolfmen, bloodsucking vampires, and armies of mindless zombies.
From the myth of Actaeon to Saint Hubert, from the laboratories of the heroic and pioneering Louis Pasteur to a journalistic investigation into the madness that has gripped modern-day Bali, Rabid is a fresh, fascinating, and often wildly entertaining look at one of the world's most misunderstood viruses.
''An elegant exploration of the science behind one of the most horrible ways to die.'' –Chris Anderson, New York Times bestselling author
''Thrilling, smart, and devilishly entertaining, Rabid is one of those books that changes your sense of history – and reminds us how much our human story has been shaped by the viruses that live among us.'' –Steven Johnson, bestselling author of The Ghost Map
''Take Bill Wasik, one of our most perceptive journalistic storytellers, have him join forces with Monica Murphy, scholar of public health, and you end up with this erudite, true-life creep show of a book. It turns out that the rabies virus is a good bit more fascinating and at least as frightening as any of those blood-thirsty monsters that have stalked our fairy tales, multiplexes, and dreams.'' –Donovan Hohn, author of Moby-Duck
''The rabies virus is a microscopic particle of genes and proteins. And yet it has cast a fearful shadow over all of human history. Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy have produced an eerily elegant meditation on disease and madness, dogs and vampires. It's as infectious as its subject.'' –Carl Zimmer, NPR contributor and author of Parasite Rex
''Thrilling, smart, and devilishly entertaining, Rabid is one of those books that changes your sense of history – and reminds us how much our human story has been shaped by the viruses that live among us.'' –Steven Johnson, bestselling author of The Ghost Map
''Take Bill Wasik, one of our most perceptive journalistic storytellers, have him join forces with Monica Murphy, scholar of public health, and you end up with this erudite, true-life creep show of a book. It turns out that the rabies virus is a good bit more fascinating and at least as frightening as any of those blood-thirsty monsters that have stalked our fairy tales, multiplexes, and dreams.'' –Donovan Hohn, author of Moby-Duck
''The rabies virus is a microscopic particle of genes and proteins. And yet it has cast a fearful shadow over all of human history. Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy have produced an eerily elegant meditation on disease and madness, dogs and vampires. It's as infectious as its subject.'' –Carl Zimmer, NPR contributor and author of Parasite Rex
About the Author
BILL WASIK is a senior editor at Wired magazine and was previously a senior editor at Harper's, where he wrote on culture, media, and politics. He is the editor of the anthology Submersion Journalism and has also written for the Oxford American, Slate, Salon, and McSweeney's.
MONICA MURPHY holds degrees in public health from Johns Hopkins University and veterinary medicine from the University of Minnesota. She lives in Oakland, California.