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The Rationing
America is in trouble—at the mercy of a puzzling pathogen. That ordinarily wouldn’t lead to catastrophe, thanks to modern medicine, but there’s just one problem: the government supply of Dormigen, the silver bullet of pharmaceuticals, has been depleted just as demand begins to spike.
Set in the near future, The Rationing centers around a White House struggling to quell the crisis—and control the narrative. Working together, just barely, are a savvy but preoccupied president; a Speaker more interested in jockeying for position—and a potential presidential bid—than attending to the minutiae of disease control; a patriotic majority leader unable to differentiate a virus from a bacterium; a strategist with brilliant analytical abilities but abominable people skills; and, improbably, our narrator, a low-level scientist with the National Institutes of Health who happens to be the world’s leading expert in lurking viruses.
Little goes according to plan during the three weeks necessary to replenish the stocks of Dormigen. Some Americans will get the life-saving drug and others will not, and nations with their own supply soon offer aid—but for a price. China senses blood and a geopolitical victory, presenting a laundry list of demands that ranges from complete domination of the South China Sea to additional parking spaces at the UN, while India claims it can save the day for the U.S.
Set in the near future, The Rationing centers around a White House struggling to quell the crisis—and control the narrative. Working together, just barely, are a savvy but preoccupied president; a Speaker more interested in jockeying for position—and a potential presidential bid—than attending to the minutiae of disease control; a patriotic majority leader unable to differentiate a virus from a bacterium; a strategist with brilliant analytical abilities but abominable people skills; and, improbably, our narrator, a low-level scientist with the National Institutes of Health who happens to be the world’s leading expert in lurking viruses.
Little goes according to plan during the three weeks necessary to replenish the stocks of Dormigen. Some Americans will get the life-saving drug and others will not, and nations with their own supply soon offer aid—but for a price. China senses blood and a geopolitical victory, presenting a laundry list of demands that ranges from complete domination of the South China Sea to additional parking spaces at the UN, while India claims it can save the day for the U.S.
464 pages, Hardcover
First published May 21, 2019
99 people are currently reading
2095 people want to read
About the author
Charles Wheelan
9 books512 followersCharles Wheelan is a senior lecturer and policy fellow at the Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College. He joined the Dartmouth faculty fulltime in June of 2012.
Wheelan’s most recent book, Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data, was released by W.W. Norton in January of 2013. Three weeks later, it reached the New York Times bestseller list for hardback nonfiction. The San Francisco Chronicle called it a “brilliant, funny new book.” The New York Times described Wheelan as “the Dave Barry of the coin-flipping set.”
From 2004 to 2012, Wheelan was a senior lecturer in public policy at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. He taught several courses on understanding the policy process for Master’s students. For the 2004-05 academic year, he was voted Professor of the Year in a Non-Core Course by the Harris School student body.
In the fall of 2005, Wheelan created and taught the inaugural International Policy Practicum (IPP), in which 12 students studied economic reform in India for an academic term followed by a 10-day trip to Bangalore and Delhi to meet with economists, politicians, educators, civic leaders, and other experts. Subsequent IPPs have visited Brazil; Jordan and Israel; Turkey; Cambodia; and Rwanda and Madagascar.
In March of 2009, Wheelan ran unsuccessfully for Congress as the representative from the Illinois 5th District in the special election to replace Rahm Emanuel. In its editorial assessing the race, the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, “Voters will find a ballot filled with impressive and thoughtful candidates . . . especially Charlie Wheelan, a University of Chicago lecturer who combines a razor-sharp mind with a boatload of charm and an impressive expertise in economics and foreign policy. We expect great things from Wheelan in the future.”
Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Chicago, Wheelan was Director of Policy and Communications for Chicago Metropolis 2020, a business-backed civic group promoting healthy regional growth in the Chicago area.
From 1997 to 2002, Wheelan was the Midwest correspondent for The Economist. His story on America’s burgeoning ex-convict population was the August 10, 2002, cover story. He has written freelance articles for the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and other publications.
Wheelan’s first book, Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science, was published by W.W. Norton & Company in 2002. The book, an accessible and entertaining introduction to economics for lay readers, was released in paperback in September 2003 and is now published in 13 languages, including Arabic and Hebrew. The Chicago Tribune described Naked Economics as “clear, concise, informative and (gasp) witty.”
In 2007, Naked Economics was selected by 360 Degrees of Reading as one of the 360 books that every college bound student should read, alongside authors ranging from Sophocles to Malcolm X. Naked Economics was also selected as one The 100 Best Business Books of All Time by 800-CEO-READ.
Wheelan is also the author of 10 ½ Things No Commencement Speaker Has Ever Said and An Introduction to Public Policy, a comprehensive textbook on public policy published by W.W. Norton in November of 2010.
Wheelan holds a Ph.D. in public policy from the University of Chicago, a Master’s in Public Affairs from Princeton University, and a B.A. from Dartmouth College. He lives in Chicago with his wife and three children.
Wheelan’s most recent book, Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data, was released by W.W. Norton in January of 2013. Three weeks later, it reached the New York Times bestseller list for hardback nonfiction. The San Francisco Chronicle called it a “brilliant, funny new book.” The New York Times described Wheelan as “the Dave Barry of the coin-flipping set.”
From 2004 to 2012, Wheelan was a senior lecturer in public policy at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. He taught several courses on understanding the policy process for Master’s students. For the 2004-05 academic year, he was voted Professor of the Year in a Non-Core Course by the Harris School student body.
In the fall of 2005, Wheelan created and taught the inaugural International Policy Practicum (IPP), in which 12 students studied economic reform in India for an academic term followed by a 10-day trip to Bangalore and Delhi to meet with economists, politicians, educators, civic leaders, and other experts. Subsequent IPPs have visited Brazil; Jordan and Israel; Turkey; Cambodia; and Rwanda and Madagascar.
In March of 2009, Wheelan ran unsuccessfully for Congress as the representative from the Illinois 5th District in the special election to replace Rahm Emanuel. In its editorial assessing the race, the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, “Voters will find a ballot filled with impressive and thoughtful candidates . . . especially Charlie Wheelan, a University of Chicago lecturer who combines a razor-sharp mind with a boatload of charm and an impressive expertise in economics and foreign policy. We expect great things from Wheelan in the future.”
Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Chicago, Wheelan was Director of Policy and Communications for Chicago Metropolis 2020, a business-backed civic group promoting healthy regional growth in the Chicago area.
From 1997 to 2002, Wheelan was the Midwest correspondent for The Economist. His story on America’s burgeoning ex-convict population was the August 10, 2002, cover story. He has written freelance articles for the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and other publications.
Wheelan’s first book, Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science, was published by W.W. Norton & Company in 2002. The book, an accessible and entertaining introduction to economics for lay readers, was released in paperback in September 2003 and is now published in 13 languages, including Arabic and Hebrew. The Chicago Tribune described Naked Economics as “clear, concise, informative and (gasp) witty.”
In 2007, Naked Economics was selected by 360 Degrees of Reading as one of the 360 books that every college bound student should read, alongside authors ranging from Sophocles to Malcolm X. Naked Economics was also selected as one The 100 Best Business Books of All Time by 800-CEO-READ.
Wheelan is also the author of 10 ½ Things No Commencement Speaker Has Ever Said and An Introduction to Public Policy, a comprehensive textbook on public policy published by W.W. Norton in November of 2010.
Wheelan holds a Ph.D. in public policy from the University of Chicago, a Master’s in Public Affairs from Princeton University, and a B.A. from Dartmouth College. He lives in Chicago with his wife and three children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews
May 24, 2020
I'm between 3.5 & 4 Stars on this one
This was very unique novel. I have never read anything like it.
Set in the near(ish) future, The Rationing takes place in the United States where a mysterious pantheon is rampaging and killing people. (Very spooky.) Fortunately, there is a drug (because drugs solve all problems*) called Dormigen (#NotSponsored), that basically solved everything. (We'll talk about the drug later.) But just as the epidemic arises, the supply of Dormigen falls.
Now, if you know me, you know that I LOVE sci-fi. I don't know why. Ever since I was little, I had a strange fascination with it. I remember when I was maybe five, I found a "survival book" with a zombie section. I read it. And then I read it again. And again. And then I had a panic attack and nightmares for the next week.
Of course, now I can handle scary stuff. I think.
I don't know anything about the political world. And I honestly couldn't care less. As long as I'm not going to be bombed or die painfully, I don't care. And because I know nothing, I was expecting major confusion. I kind of got it. I mean I was able to understand enough to enjoy the book. Kudos to the author.
I came for the sci-fi though! And I got plenty. Most sci-fi writers don't actually have science knowledge. I know that this author did and it showed. The science was the perfect amount of confuddling and exciting. I really enjoyed it. Very well done! The one thing I didn't like was the Dormigen. (See, I told you I would get to it.) I found it a little hard to believe that a drug has been invented that is a literal cure-all. I'm even willing to believe something if it's explained. But it never was. How sad.
Another random thing I want to note is that none of the characters have names!!! It was so weird. I mean it takes real talent to never use a character's name! In fact, the ending line even noted that. It was very meta and creepy. I like this aspect though it did make things confusing and I had trouble keeping track of characters.
There is one thing I didn't like. That ending. Oh, and the Speaker. She's a b*tch.
Many thanks to W. W. Norton for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review
Bottom Line:
3.75 Stars:
Age Recommendation: 15+ (Sooooo much swearing)
Cover: 4/5 • Plot: 4/5 • Characters: 4/5
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*No they don't. Don't do drugs
September 17, 2019
Oh, to have the confidence of a modestly successful white male academic! Dartmouth lecturer and nonfiction writer Wheelan misses the mark widely with this pedantic, myopic, and vaguely bigoted first novel. Ostensibly a political thriller about a near-future deadly plague, this is no Andromeda Strain. It's not even an Outbreak. Instead it could be thinly veiled propaganda for the abortive Howard Schultz campaign, a smug, self-satisfied and deeply out-of-touch rich moderate whinging unconvincingly that everything will be great if we just sit back and let him handle it. The funny thing is that a lot of the political arguments Wheelan is making are ones to which I'm entirely sympathetic. He's all for the return of respect for expertise, making his narrator a scientist and using uninformed corporate raiders, misguided protesters, political opportunists, and China as roadblocks. He's equally skeptical about the far right and the far left. But for a writer who's clearly working with a specific prescription in mind, his read of the current political climate is deeply stupid. He splits the Republicans into two parties, and this somehow leads to the election of…a slightly right-of-center independent? How is that even mathematically possible? It's OK to invent imaginary politics for the sake of telling an exciting adventure story. I'll go to bat for Tom Clancy any day. But The Rationing isn't exciting. Incredibly, it doesn't spend even a single scene in the presence of any of the plague victims. Not even one. It's also strangely stingy about the science behind the story, and the corporate malfeasance angle gets introduced and wrapped up entirely in the first chapter. Instead, the bulk of the narrative is dedicated to hero worship of a preposterous magical white savior president, a handsome, virile, cunning, empathetic paragon. He doesn't actually defeat any terrorists in hand-to-hand combat like Harrison Ford in Air Force One, but you can be sure that if he had to, he could. Wheelan's treatment of his women and minority characters sucks. It's telling that all of the white male American characters are identified only by their jobs, but the women and people of color have names. The implication is gross and obvious. The narrator is beguiled by an evil reporter ("Sloan") who uses her feminine wiles to get him to leak information about the developing virus story. The central political villain is a disingenuous Speaker of the House who only presents herself as Latina for political expediency. There's a pompous French academic who hits on girls, and a crooked South Indian drug executive. There's a hooker-loving strategist who's "on the spectrum." There's a folksy, subservient older Black Health & Human Services secretary who may or may not say "I'm too old for this shit!" at one point. There's a nurturing Chief of Staff who is treated patronizingly for caring about her kids and baking bad cookies. If a professor at a prestigious American university can unwittingly be this consistently sexist and racist, I'm (again) relieved to be done with college. Seriously, this guy should have nothing to do with the shaping of young minds. He's a relic and it's embarrassing. What's more, his political argument, that what the American public truly desires from leadership is just, you know, slightly less hateful Republicans, is overwhelmingly incorrect. I feel bad for Dartmouth.
October 1, 2019
The Rationing is a fast-paced, political satire in which a deadly SARS-like disease threatens to kill millions of Americans. This book hit all my nerdy policy-wonk desires.
Things I loved:
💊its "inside view" of the White House during a crisis
💊how global power dynamics shifted minute-by-minute as the US tried working with India and China through the crisis
💊how strongly people's idiosyncrasies and political desires affected their decision-making
I also loved that the narrator was an outsider, a scientist specializing in the type of disease.
There isn't a better moment for a novel like this.
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Things I loved:
💊its "inside view" of the White House during a crisis
💊how global power dynamics shifted minute-by-minute as the US tried working with India and China through the crisis
💊how strongly people's idiosyncrasies and political desires affected their decision-making
I also loved that the narrator was an outsider, a scientist specializing in the type of disease.
There isn't a better moment for a novel like this.
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January 10, 2021
This was a fun read— really interesting narrative structure & about a fictional pandemic that hits the United States in the 2030’s. It’s fun and has some interesting parallels to Covid (despite being published in 2019) and reads like a pretty good episode of Madam Secretary. Note: it also has the cringey political optimism of a Madam Secretary episode, too.
July 13, 2019
The Rationing
By Charles Wheelan
If not the most unusual novel you'll read this year, The Rationing is sure to rank high up on your list. Once you have read "A note on Sources" at the beginning of the book, you will never again be quite sure whether you're reading fiction or your daily newspaper. And if you slip for a moment, forgetting its fiction, it can be chilling.
Charles Wheelan, a journalist by profession, sets his fantasy tale in the very near future when so many things seem familiar but aren't quite so, like Chinese efforts for hegemony in the South China Sea and a dysfunctional American government tries to deal with the threat. But this is no political rant, it's a peek into a very plausible world where things have gone very wrong.
The story is set vaguely in the 2030s or thereabouts. Narrated by a government scientist, we learn right away that the American pharmaceutical industry has created a new wonder drug, Dormigen. It's capable of killing all known viruses with a simple injection. Thus the world is freed from fear of pandemics. The rights to the drug have been shared worldwide, so people are cured of many maladies with just one shot. The only drawback to Dormigen is it has a short shelf life, so new batches must be made regularly by the manufacturer to be effective. Even though Dormigen is a cash cow for its American manufacturer, greedy top executives of the firm have padded their pockets by not making the necessary new batches in the US, assuming no one gets the flu anymore so why bother and nobody will find out.
But then a fire burns down a California Dormigen warehouse, the first domino in a chain of events that moves along quickly. Next, of a sudden, one of the benign viruses Dormigen regularly controls turns deadly. But now, the existing American supply of the drug is ineffective because it is out of date.
Thus begins governmental chaos on a grand scale as the realization sets in that Americans in the thousands may die from the new killer virus before adequate replacement stock of effective Dormigen can be manufactured. What to do? Rationing existing stocks of effective Dormagen is the answer, but how to ration? Who lives and who dies? Even when those details are worked out, the American President, his cabinet and Congressmen, all fear being blamed for the avoidable deaths. So what about borrowing Dormigen from other countries?
No spoiler here. You'll have to read this page-turner to find out what happens. It's all there in detail--perhaps a little too much detail--but a fine read. Along the way, Wheelan gives his readers insights to the workings of a government in crisis and the sharply differing personalities of officials, some of whom have vested interests that go way beyond the welfare of American citizens. Even the married government scientist narrator manages to have romantic interludes with a co-worker and an old college colleague.
Mr. Wheelan is formerly a journalist for The Economist news magazine. He writes in a way that quickly builds your confidence in the veracity of his reporting, and is convincing about the growing drama of the rationing of Dormigen. There are a few scenes where the point of view is impossible--the narrator is not present at the meetings he reports on--but this is easily overlooked if you are as deeply invested in the story as I was.
It's hard to put a label on this book, except to say it's a good read if you're into this kind of story--part dystopian, part Sci-fi, part documentary, part tabloid fare.
By Charles Wheelan
If not the most unusual novel you'll read this year, The Rationing is sure to rank high up on your list. Once you have read "A note on Sources" at the beginning of the book, you will never again be quite sure whether you're reading fiction or your daily newspaper. And if you slip for a moment, forgetting its fiction, it can be chilling.
Charles Wheelan, a journalist by profession, sets his fantasy tale in the very near future when so many things seem familiar but aren't quite so, like Chinese efforts for hegemony in the South China Sea and a dysfunctional American government tries to deal with the threat. But this is no political rant, it's a peek into a very plausible world where things have gone very wrong.
The story is set vaguely in the 2030s or thereabouts. Narrated by a government scientist, we learn right away that the American pharmaceutical industry has created a new wonder drug, Dormigen. It's capable of killing all known viruses with a simple injection. Thus the world is freed from fear of pandemics. The rights to the drug have been shared worldwide, so people are cured of many maladies with just one shot. The only drawback to Dormigen is it has a short shelf life, so new batches must be made regularly by the manufacturer to be effective. Even though Dormigen is a cash cow for its American manufacturer, greedy top executives of the firm have padded their pockets by not making the necessary new batches in the US, assuming no one gets the flu anymore so why bother and nobody will find out.
But then a fire burns down a California Dormigen warehouse, the first domino in a chain of events that moves along quickly. Next, of a sudden, one of the benign viruses Dormigen regularly controls turns deadly. But now, the existing American supply of the drug is ineffective because it is out of date.
Thus begins governmental chaos on a grand scale as the realization sets in that Americans in the thousands may die from the new killer virus before adequate replacement stock of effective Dormigen can be manufactured. What to do? Rationing existing stocks of effective Dormagen is the answer, but how to ration? Who lives and who dies? Even when those details are worked out, the American President, his cabinet and Congressmen, all fear being blamed for the avoidable deaths. So what about borrowing Dormigen from other countries?
No spoiler here. You'll have to read this page-turner to find out what happens. It's all there in detail--perhaps a little too much detail--but a fine read. Along the way, Wheelan gives his readers insights to the workings of a government in crisis and the sharply differing personalities of officials, some of whom have vested interests that go way beyond the welfare of American citizens. Even the married government scientist narrator manages to have romantic interludes with a co-worker and an old college colleague.
Mr. Wheelan is formerly a journalist for The Economist news magazine. He writes in a way that quickly builds your confidence in the veracity of his reporting, and is convincing about the growing drama of the rationing of Dormigen. There are a few scenes where the point of view is impossible--the narrator is not present at the meetings he reports on--but this is easily overlooked if you are as deeply invested in the story as I was.
It's hard to put a label on this book, except to say it's a good read if you're into this kind of story--part dystopian, part Sci-fi, part documentary, part tabloid fare.
June 1, 2019
It’s like The West Wing with a hint of Jurassic Park.
I stumbled upon The Rationing when I was browsing at my local independent book store the Mysterious Galaxy. The Mysterious Galaxy is a science fiction and fantasy themed little nook and I was surprised to find a Charles Wheelan book on prominent display. I knew Wheelan as a non-fiction author who tried to make economics and related topics accessible. I assign his book Naked Statistics to my undergraduates for their intro to research methods course. I was not expecting to read a Wheelan book for fun.
Upon finishing the book in two days, I got a kind of “escapism” satisfaction that allowed me to take a mental break from the current political reality, not unlike the kind of satisfaction that I derived from watching the West Wing during the Bush administration. Even though the story is set upon an idealized White House in the near future, it conforms to enough hard assumptions about politics to still feel grounded. The politicians in the book are very much self-interested: they care about holding onto power through whatever means available. There are no drastic, institutional changes (e.g. the Electoral College is still around). What the story does is to put a few functioning “adults” in the political institutions. All these “adults” are still self-interested politicians, but they understand the rules, are capable of playing the game, and (at least try to) use their powers for good at the end of the day. It is a best case scenario thought experiment: the system remains as is, there are plenty of incompetent and/or despicable politicians around, but there are also a few adults in the room.
And they have to save hundreds of thousands of lives.
A minor quibble: there are a couple of places where it feels like a nonfiction writer writes fiction: too much tell, not enough show. E.g. on page 313 the conversation between the President and Representative Stern. The author clearly wants the readers to like Rep Stern by explaining that even though Stern may have said something seemingly accusatory, “Her tone was not facetious. Rather, she acknowledged the effectiveness of these political gestures even as she wished they were unnecessary.” (insert awkward laugh-sweat emoji here).
Overall an interesting and satisfactory read.
I stumbled upon The Rationing when I was browsing at my local independent book store the Mysterious Galaxy. The Mysterious Galaxy is a science fiction and fantasy themed little nook and I was surprised to find a Charles Wheelan book on prominent display. I knew Wheelan as a non-fiction author who tried to make economics and related topics accessible. I assign his book Naked Statistics to my undergraduates for their intro to research methods course. I was not expecting to read a Wheelan book for fun.
Upon finishing the book in two days, I got a kind of “escapism” satisfaction that allowed me to take a mental break from the current political reality, not unlike the kind of satisfaction that I derived from watching the West Wing during the Bush administration. Even though the story is set upon an idealized White House in the near future, it conforms to enough hard assumptions about politics to still feel grounded. The politicians in the book are very much self-interested: they care about holding onto power through whatever means available. There are no drastic, institutional changes (e.g. the Electoral College is still around). What the story does is to put a few functioning “adults” in the political institutions. All these “adults” are still self-interested politicians, but they understand the rules, are capable of playing the game, and (at least try to) use their powers for good at the end of the day. It is a best case scenario thought experiment: the system remains as is, there are plenty of incompetent and/or despicable politicians around, but there are also a few adults in the room.
And they have to save hundreds of thousands of lives.
A minor quibble: there are a couple of places where it feels like a nonfiction writer writes fiction: too much tell, not enough show. E.g. on page 313 the conversation between the President and Representative Stern. The author clearly wants the readers to like Rep Stern by explaining that even though Stern may have said something seemingly accusatory, “Her tone was not facetious. Rather, she acknowledged the effectiveness of these political gestures even as she wished they were unnecessary.” (insert awkward laugh-sweat emoji here).
Overall an interesting and satisfactory read.
June 1, 2019
Part present-day political satire, part Robin Cook thriller and part pure entertainment, Wheelan has more crafty characters and plot twists in this book than the NIH has scientists. The story is set in the near future and America’s obsession with anti-bacterial soap has allowed super viruses to thrive. When a puzzling pathogen begins to creep into the population, an awful revelation comes to light. The government’s supply of Dormigen, the silver bullet of drugs that can fight off attacks, is in low supply. So begins the sometimes scary, other times laughable story of what happens in the three short weeks required to stop a massive global outbreak. From the speaker of the house to Chinese negotiations, back-stabbing, deception, a White House struggling to control the crisis and pharmaceutical executives scrambling to cover their butts, this entertaining satire will temporarily take your mind off our own global problems.
August 6, 2019
I love political satire, but this book was just boring. It had a great premise, and a lot of potential, but I think I missed the point. I didn't believe in (or like) the main character -- he didn't seem to offer any scientific contributions, at least in the beginning, and it seemed unrealistic that he would have been involved at such a high level. And the big "Outbreak" didn't seem to be as big a crisis as he was describing (was that the point?) And the minute details just went on and on - and on. I skimmed the last third of the book.
October 30, 2020
Con esto del Covid-19 ha dado lugar de que se desempolve algunos títulos de novelas de contenido algo catastrófico, donde la singularidad de nuestras vidas sea destruida por un virus o patógeno que doblegue las voluntades de la humanidad, pero a esto se unen las novelas gradualista que imaginan un futuro a la vuelta de la esquina, pero esto es tema para otra ocasión, pues hoy el primer punto nos tiene curvado sin ninguna solución hasta el momento, solo briso de algún que otra promesa de medicamento, pero cambiemos de temas.
The Rationing del escritor estadounidense Charles Whellan, profesor, periodista pone en circulación esta novela, la cual viene a ser la primer de corte ficción, ya que había escrito otros libros, pero de corte económico, algo completamente diferente como él dice, mientras viajabas por el mundo en sus espacio de vacaciones.
Entremos en tema, de que va esta novela, ya de antemano, en el primer párrafo tenemos cierta ideas, de que trata sobre un virus, Capellaviridae, que brota alrededor del año 2030, similar a la gripe principalmente en los Estados Unidos. El surgimiento de este virus, no es un problema hasta el momento, pues la ciencia ha inventado Dormigen, un fármaco que trata eficazmente las infecciones virales y bacterianas. A esto se une El Acaro del polvo americano que proporciona protección contra el virus. Este Acaro protege contra el virus, pero se vuelve virulento. El gran problema es, que al surgir el virus, este fármaco se vio disminuido al producirse un incendio en uno de los grandes almacenes del gobierno federal y la empresa privada que produce la reserva de reserva intenta tomar atajos. El terrible resultado a medida que aumenta el recuento de muertes por el nuevo virus: es posible que Washington tenga que racionar los suministros existentes si los Institutos Nacionales de Salud no pueden salvar el día. Ya con el brote, la disminución del fármaco, se dan otros hechos que hacen de la novela un enfrentamiento entre ideología, pero ideología política o geopolítica, enemistades política con China, la India.
Leyendo esta novela, y colocándola hoy día, se asemeja mucho a los primeros meses cuando surgió el covid-19, donde las informaciones no eran tan precisas sobre el surgimiento, de cómo se infectaba, y aquí se da lo mismo. Es una novela que satiriza la política de nuestros lideres, la hipocresía, el engaño, de cómo maniobran nuestros lideres al momentos de surgir una catástrofe que afecta a la humanidad, y donde las diferencias geopolíticas pesan más que la enfermedad o muerte de miles. Una Casa Blanca que a toda costa lucha por sofocar la crisis, un Presidente que para más montado en un avión tratando de que sus colaboradores le den respuestas, un orador buscándose granjear una candidatura presidencial que en atender las minucias del control de enfermedades; un líder de la mayoría patriótica incapaz de diferenciar un virus de una bacteria; un estratega con brillantes habilidades analíticas pero abominable habilidad para la gente; e, improbablemente, nuestro narrador, un científico de bajo nivel de los Institutos Nacionales de Salud que resulta ser el principal experto mundial en virus al acecho.
En lo personal es un novela simple, fácil de transitar por su paginas, donde si te quedara clavado la mayor porción del tiempo narrado, en un grupo de personajes que no sobrepasa mas allá de las conferencias y bromas, que en muchos de los casos tienen mas oído en lo que dicen los medios de comunicación, en un dimes y diretes sobre las estrategias a escoger, y esto hace de la novela ir más allá que con pocas páginas te salta el desenlacen de un capitulo o capítulos, y esto lo hace en momento aburrida. Es una novela que uno leería para hacer una pausa de alguna lectura densa que haya necesito de mucho esfuerzo leer o hacer investigaciones paralela.
The Rationing del escritor estadounidense Charles Whellan, profesor, periodista pone en circulación esta novela, la cual viene a ser la primer de corte ficción, ya que había escrito otros libros, pero de corte económico, algo completamente diferente como él dice, mientras viajabas por el mundo en sus espacio de vacaciones.
Entremos en tema, de que va esta novela, ya de antemano, en el primer párrafo tenemos cierta ideas, de que trata sobre un virus, Capellaviridae, que brota alrededor del año 2030, similar a la gripe principalmente en los Estados Unidos. El surgimiento de este virus, no es un problema hasta el momento, pues la ciencia ha inventado Dormigen, un fármaco que trata eficazmente las infecciones virales y bacterianas. A esto se une El Acaro del polvo americano que proporciona protección contra el virus. Este Acaro protege contra el virus, pero se vuelve virulento. El gran problema es, que al surgir el virus, este fármaco se vio disminuido al producirse un incendio en uno de los grandes almacenes del gobierno federal y la empresa privada que produce la reserva de reserva intenta tomar atajos. El terrible resultado a medida que aumenta el recuento de muertes por el nuevo virus: es posible que Washington tenga que racionar los suministros existentes si los Institutos Nacionales de Salud no pueden salvar el día. Ya con el brote, la disminución del fármaco, se dan otros hechos que hacen de la novela un enfrentamiento entre ideología, pero ideología política o geopolítica, enemistades política con China, la India.
Leyendo esta novela, y colocándola hoy día, se asemeja mucho a los primeros meses cuando surgió el covid-19, donde las informaciones no eran tan precisas sobre el surgimiento, de cómo se infectaba, y aquí se da lo mismo. Es una novela que satiriza la política de nuestros lideres, la hipocresía, el engaño, de cómo maniobran nuestros lideres al momentos de surgir una catástrofe que afecta a la humanidad, y donde las diferencias geopolíticas pesan más que la enfermedad o muerte de miles. Una Casa Blanca que a toda costa lucha por sofocar la crisis, un Presidente que para más montado en un avión tratando de que sus colaboradores le den respuestas, un orador buscándose granjear una candidatura presidencial que en atender las minucias del control de enfermedades; un líder de la mayoría patriótica incapaz de diferenciar un virus de una bacteria; un estratega con brillantes habilidades analíticas pero abominable habilidad para la gente; e, improbablemente, nuestro narrador, un científico de bajo nivel de los Institutos Nacionales de Salud que resulta ser el principal experto mundial en virus al acecho.
En lo personal es un novela simple, fácil de transitar por su paginas, donde si te quedara clavado la mayor porción del tiempo narrado, en un grupo de personajes que no sobrepasa mas allá de las conferencias y bromas, que en muchos de los casos tienen mas oído en lo que dicen los medios de comunicación, en un dimes y diretes sobre las estrategias a escoger, y esto hace de la novela ir más allá que con pocas páginas te salta el desenlacen de un capitulo o capítulos, y esto lo hace en momento aburrida. Es una novela que uno leería para hacer una pausa de alguna lectura densa que haya necesito de mucho esfuerzo leer o hacer investigaciones paralela.
March 12, 2024
I’m not one to read this type of genre but I’ve been forcing myself to branch out (& never read 2 of the same type of books in a row) & my god am I glad I did. Totally fiction but realistic enough to keep you intrigued. Couldn’t put it down. Note while this is about a fictional epidemic it was published in 2019 before COVID existed.
July 14, 2019
Fun book that can easily be approached as political satire mixed with medical thriller. However, if you're familiar with the author's prior non-fiction works (Naked Money: What It Is and Why It Matters, Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data, and Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science - all fantastic reads in their own right and tailor-made for a layperson like myself), then it's easy to see how this is ultimately a book about economics. From the title alone, it's apparent that the main conflict centers on the allocation of a scarce resource. I would have given this a higher rating except I was still bothered by certain aspects of the medical mystery.
October 31, 2019
Phew ok, y'all, THIS BOOK. THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD. It's funny (I genuinely laughed out loud reading this book); it's smart (none of the made-up things sound silly and all the real things are explained with the tone of someone who knows a whole lot about the subject matter but who also has to teach it at a 101 level on the regular); it's suspenseful (the rise and fall of dramatic tension is FABULOUS I found myself clutching the book at certain points). The character of the narrator is constructed so beautifully and like is a joy to spend 400 odd pages with for all his human flaws. The allusions to fictional future events build out a world that feels tangible.
Honestly though, above all else, this book is wildly optimistic. Especially today when everything political is always on fire, it is so soothing to read a book about normal political dysfunction. The bureaucracy is normal. The personalities, big as they are this is Washington DC afterall, are normally so. This book presents a future for the US where things actually can go back to normal even if there's the shadow of a pandemic cast over the nation.
Anyway, READ THIS BOOK.
Honestly though, above all else, this book is wildly optimistic. Especially today when everything political is always on fire, it is so soothing to read a book about normal political dysfunction. The bureaucracy is normal. The personalities, big as they are this is Washington DC afterall, are normally so. This book presents a future for the US where things actually can go back to normal even if there's the shadow of a pandemic cast over the nation.
Anyway, READ THIS BOOK.
January 23, 2021
I don't like this kind of foreshadowing in my life.
March 19, 2021
I wish the author put as much effort into making the plot as interesting as he did describing the body type and attractiveness of every single woman who uttered a sentence.
This is unreadable.
This is unreadable.
June 6, 2023
If public health and public policy had a child
June 23, 2019
Wow! This was an unusual and fascinating novel about a possible scenario in the not-too-distant future. A common virus suddenly becomes virulent and deadly. It’s a national epidemic in the making. How it’s handled by government, scientists, and the National Institute of Health is the nuts and bolt of this drama. It’s highly satirical about politicians and politics. This is this author’s first foray into fiction. His Naked series about economics and money have been well received. Four stars.
October 4, 2019
I’ll be honest—I started reading this book because of the Dartmouth connection. However, I found that it quickly had me riveted. This book is very different. The combination of science, diplomacy, and public policy is very clever and much more entertaining than I ever had imagined.
March 6, 2019
I received this arc from Goodreads
I was expecting a medical thriller which it is but with a large cast of political characters in different time zones and with every character having a different agenda the story got heavy and wordy while if boiled down some it would have been a great story
I was expecting a medical thriller which it is but with a large cast of political characters in different time zones and with every character having a different agenda the story got heavy and wordy while if boiled down some it would have been a great story
February 21, 2021
We'll reach 500,000 COVID dead in the United States in a few days. In the meantime, I read this political suspense novel about an epidemic in which tens of thousands or more will die if the U.S. government does not act quickly. The author didn't have the crystal ball necessary to know that, in real life, a large percentage of Americans: 1) Wouldn't care if their government pretended it wasn't happening and would vote to keep that president in office; 2) Would refuse to take the most basic actions to keep their fellow citizens safe; and 3) Wouldn't blink an eye at tens of thousands dying. To be fair, if he had written THAT novel, no one would have believed it.
The novel he did write was fascinating to read, though, especially in the current COVID context. For example, his White House purposely tries to prevent panic by comparing the illness to a "flu." His characters have to figure out how to ration a life-saving drug, which is similar to the COVID vaccine debates we are having now. Which groups get priority? The author's civil servants and scientists are unsung heroes with much responsibility on their shoulders. (Spoiler alert: These heroes did NOT get death threats in Mr. Wheelan's novel. That was a nice alternate reality.)
My question for Mr. Wheelan is whether he would have approached writing the book differently in 2021 after living through the COVID pandemic? I have never wanted to sit down with an author for an impromptu chat more than while I was reading this novel!
I LOVED the author's recent memoir about traveling with his wonderful wife and children, and his sense of humor and intelligence came through in both books.
The novel he did write was fascinating to read, though, especially in the current COVID context. For example, his White House purposely tries to prevent panic by comparing the illness to a "flu." His characters have to figure out how to ration a life-saving drug, which is similar to the COVID vaccine debates we are having now. Which groups get priority? The author's civil servants and scientists are unsung heroes with much responsibility on their shoulders. (Spoiler alert: These heroes did NOT get death threats in Mr. Wheelan's novel. That was a nice alternate reality.)
My question for Mr. Wheelan is whether he would have approached writing the book differently in 2021 after living through the COVID pandemic? I have never wanted to sit down with an author for an impromptu chat more than while I was reading this novel!
I LOVED the author's recent memoir about traveling with his wonderful wife and children, and his sense of humor and intelligence came through in both books.
May 23, 2021
finished today 23rd may 2021 good read three stars i liked it kindle library loaner the cover hooked me and i took a chance maybe i read a short description before checking out...maybe it worked due to the covid the virus that you can't say was engineered in a lab, so forth and so on. thinking the first review listed here. "bigoted"? aren't we all? the end-notes are confusing, me, thinking whud? dis real? no. uses dates from our future. ten twenty years it will be now. and you know where the battle lines are drawn..."a half-hinged fox reporter"...or some christians conspiring against israel. where's all the facebook banners? israeli lives matter. don't see it. do you? i see the mod squad hell-bent on leather. anyway, an interesting read thanks to the covid. liked the acting secretary or whatever he was, ready to hit the course. now it's back to the library, sniffing books. digitally.
January 16, 2023
1) Why have I never heard of this book?
2) How is it possible that it was published in 2019?
3) Hard to believe it's fiction.
Absolutely not the book I was expecting when I grabbed it at random off the shelf in the back of the library. So much better!
Mr. Wheelan doesn't blink from the complexity of science, decision making on a global scale, politics, and (hooray) statistics. The characters are complex and plausible. People are people, regardless of whether they are the POTUS or a statistics nerd.
Would I have enjoyed this as much pre-COVID? Who knows? But I'm reading it post COVID, when the notion that science can be hurried along, the public demanding information, false news, using a health crisis as a political lever, it's all very real. Maybe even scarier that the author was able to capture so convincingly what went down over the past several years.
Please write another novel, Mr. Wheelan!
2) How is it possible that it was published in 2019?
3) Hard to believe it's fiction.
Absolutely not the book I was expecting when I grabbed it at random off the shelf in the back of the library. So much better!
Mr. Wheelan doesn't blink from the complexity of science, decision making on a global scale, politics, and (hooray) statistics. The characters are complex and plausible. People are people, regardless of whether they are the POTUS or a statistics nerd.
Would I have enjoyed this as much pre-COVID? Who knows? But I'm reading it post COVID, when the notion that science can be hurried along, the public demanding information, false news, using a health crisis as a political lever, it's all very real. Maybe even scarier that the author was able to capture so convincingly what went down over the past several years.
Please write another novel, Mr. Wheelan!
June 3, 2021
A look into the near future collides with the present
I could not put this book down, yet I found myself so absorbed in it t by e tension was unbearable. What a surprise to learn it is the author's first fictional story! His earlier books are over my head, but this was a great read, and an eye opener.
The man is certainly prescient, considering the publication date of 2019. How could he have known how true the story would sound?
From start o finish, A really good book, one to make you laugh and to ponder our world and its leaders. The footnotes are a stroke of genius. Don't skip them!
Remember, this is fiction. Or is it?
I could not put this book down, yet I found myself so absorbed in it t by e tension was unbearable. What a surprise to learn it is the author's first fictional story! His earlier books are over my head, but this was a great read, and an eye opener.
The man is certainly prescient, considering the publication date of 2019. How could he have known how true the story would sound?
From start o finish, A really good book, one to make you laugh and to ponder our world and its leaders. The footnotes are a stroke of genius. Don't skip them!
Remember, this is fiction. Or is it?
October 3, 2020
This book was thoroughly entertaining. A completely fictional novel based a few years in our future, but based on a pandemic potential. The characters are awesome and it is hilarious that few have names. I laughed out loud often and at the same time saw parallels to today's COVID situation.
The main character is perfect. The author is enjoyable to read.
The main character is perfect. The author is enjoyable to read.
August 22, 2019
I was feeling like I was in a bit of a reading slump and couldn't figure out what I wanted to read next when I spotted this book at my local used bookstore. I know I have several hundred other books to read at the moment, but this one really caught my interest and I just had to buy it.
It was surprisingly funny, which yes, I know it's a satire but I'm very picky about my humor. This isn't a book for people who like a strong connection with their narrator. The narrator was likable, yes, and I think entertaining but was practically unnamed (as were most of the characters actually). But, this book is mostly about politics. It's about the ins and outs of a system that often times people don't really understand. It both equally mocks and admires the many cogs in the machine that make the American system operate. It's funny and also distressingly honest. It's set in a near future that honestly doesn't seem that far from the truth and not very exaggerated. This book isn't actively negative towards government, though it does express the multitudes of complication that comes from having to run a system based on public support and future votes. Politicians are political out of necessity, because it's how they get reelected. But, that does mean their decisions aren't always in people's best interests, and everyone spins their story in order to look good.
Overall, I think this book was enjoyable and well grounded in a realistic, yet satirical portrayal of a true disaster and how it would be solved. This book probably wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea, and I do feel everyone from both sides of the political spectrum get mocked equally so no single side is particularly targeted. But, not everyone is as fascinated with politics or public media as I am, which this book focuses mainly on those two things. If that isn't something that interests you, this book will probably bore you. Still, I'd recommend it anyways.
It was surprisingly funny, which yes, I know it's a satire but I'm very picky about my humor. This isn't a book for people who like a strong connection with their narrator. The narrator was likable, yes, and I think entertaining but was practically unnamed (as were most of the characters actually). But, this book is mostly about politics. It's about the ins and outs of a system that often times people don't really understand. It both equally mocks and admires the many cogs in the machine that make the American system operate. It's funny and also distressingly honest. It's set in a near future that honestly doesn't seem that far from the truth and not very exaggerated. This book isn't actively negative towards government, though it does express the multitudes of complication that comes from having to run a system based on public support and future votes. Politicians are political out of necessity, because it's how they get reelected. But, that does mean their decisions aren't always in people's best interests, and everyone spins their story in order to look good.
Overall, I think this book was enjoyable and well grounded in a realistic, yet satirical portrayal of a true disaster and how it would be solved. This book probably wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea, and I do feel everyone from both sides of the political spectrum get mocked equally so no single side is particularly targeted. But, not everyone is as fascinated with politics or public media as I am, which this book focuses mainly on those two things. If that isn't something that interests you, this book will probably bore you. Still, I'd recommend it anyways.
April 8, 2019
Maybe I just didn't read the synopsis fully, or I read it while extremely fatigued after a 12 hour shift (highly likely) but I was fooled into thinking this was going to be a medical thriller.
Um. Absolutely not. Disappoint #1. But that was my own fault.
I received this book in a giveaway so, while I am thankful I did not spend money on a genre that wasn't, this book had lots of pros in its own right.
Working in the healthcare field, viruses, vaccines, and immunity is, and have always been, very intriguing to me. The author dives into the concept of lurking viruses, how they work, and explains the evolution of viruses and their carriers in a beautifully scientific way- which I really appreciated.
But the whole point of this satirical story was to highlight how society views the U.S. Government and the way it handles the lives of the American people. It makes fun of how incensed people can get at the "mishandling" of a situation by showing the behind-the-scenes and how what society may view has a large oversight, was really just a miscommunication or slight that occurred in a conference room that got blown way out of proportion. The story of "The Outbreak" is set in the future, but draws plenty of parallels from the current relationship between the U.S. Government and the American people.
I am disappointed this book wasn't what I had thought it was going to be, but in all fairness, it was well written, funny, and got across the message the author intended.
Um. Absolutely not. Disappoint #1. But that was my own fault.
I received this book in a giveaway so, while I am thankful I did not spend money on a genre that wasn't, this book had lots of pros in its own right.
Working in the healthcare field, viruses, vaccines, and immunity is, and have always been, very intriguing to me. The author dives into the concept of lurking viruses, how they work, and explains the evolution of viruses and their carriers in a beautifully scientific way- which I really appreciated.
But the whole point of this satirical story was to highlight how society views the U.S. Government and the way it handles the lives of the American people. It makes fun of how incensed people can get at the "mishandling" of a situation by showing the behind-the-scenes and how what society may view has a large oversight, was really just a miscommunication or slight that occurred in a conference room that got blown way out of proportion. The story of "The Outbreak" is set in the future, but draws plenty of parallels from the current relationship between the U.S. Government and the American people.
I am disappointed this book wasn't what I had thought it was going to be, but in all fairness, it was well written, funny, and got across the message the author intended.
July 2, 2021
This novel was published in the summer of 2019; my review might have been different if I had read it then instead of a year and a half later. A funny, occasionally acerbic fictionalisation of what might have happened if America had suddenly been hit by a pandemic of a new virus with the potential to cause tens of thousands of fatalities (yes, and in the context of the novel, this is considered an unacceptable catastrophe), this novel occasionally misses the boat on some of the science of virology and epidemiology, but that's not really the point; what it does do well is humanise the drama of the politics and the hysteria around the management of an infectious disease emergency. The portraits of the various political actors: the hucksters, the sycophants, the limelight-hoggers, the cynics -- are quite on-point. One sad aspect is that underneath the selfishness and self-absorption, most of the characters in the end are genuinely trying to do their best; this book depicts, in short, how the U.S. government might have responded to a deadly plague, if led at the top by (mostly) competent and (mostly) patriotic people. From the perspective of 2021, the humour is tinged now for me with a slight bitterness.
November 7, 2019
There is a shortage of a life-saving drug and a sudden, unexpected outbreak of disease. Enter the government to save us all. Ha! They can hardly get out of their own way, but thanks to an able chief executive, all is not lost. I read with special interest about the scientists from NIH (since my husband is one). To a man (woman), they dress like perpetual graduate students who have never gotten beyond a dissertation. However, I knew it was fiction when the director of the NIH brought in breakfast for the hard working minions at dawn. First, I doubt the director could find a particular lab and it wouldn't have happened at sun up. Second of all, there is no such thing as a free meal at NIH....no food is handed out at government expense. Haven't yet met a director that would shell out his (or her) own $$$ to feed the workers. Found the French scientist to be a hilarious parody of many gentlemen of the world of science..... who always have to have their name on a paper whether they did any work or not, and who have seduced their female graduate students. Eye-rolling maybe, but they exist. Anyway, glad the good ole USA was saved by a clear thinking President.
November 20, 2024
Quotable:
The pills may cost just a few dollars to produce, but the intellectual property - the research and development that made this medical miracle possible - cost billions. Somehow the pharmaceutical company had to earn back that overhead.
We would do our best to muddle through. We would join the ranks of Americans who had muddled through. Maybe sensible people trying to muddle through is the best we can hope for, I thought. Muddling through won World War II. It got us through the Great Depression and the Trump presidency.
Most Americans know that there are good guys and there are bad guys and that you can't let the bad guys get away with doing bad things. You've got to stand up to them.
You can't systematically ignore government and then expect it to work well.
For the first time during the crisis, there was also a hint of sadness, as it the ongoing parade of self-interest and narrow-mindedness and partisan grandstanding had finally begun to erode his belief in basic human decency.
The pills may cost just a few dollars to produce, but the intellectual property - the research and development that made this medical miracle possible - cost billions. Somehow the pharmaceutical company had to earn back that overhead.
We would do our best to muddle through. We would join the ranks of Americans who had muddled through. Maybe sensible people trying to muddle through is the best we can hope for, I thought. Muddling through won World War II. It got us through the Great Depression and the Trump presidency.
Most Americans know that there are good guys and there are bad guys and that you can't let the bad guys get away with doing bad things. You've got to stand up to them.
You can't systematically ignore government and then expect it to work well.
For the first time during the crisis, there was also a hint of sadness, as it the ongoing parade of self-interest and narrow-mindedness and partisan grandstanding had finally begun to erode his belief in basic human decency.
March 24, 2019
Finally, the world has a miracle drug, Dormigen, which works against almost all illnesses. However, when people in the United States start dying from a mystery illness, it's discovered that their supply is being rapidly depleted from the pharmaceutical company taking chances with the supply and production to keep their bottom line high. In The Rationing, we get a good look at the back stories of the White House, NIH, Congress and the Press dealing with the crisis told by a low-level scientist who is the leading expert on lurking viruses. We see political and scientific deception, posturing and backstabbing along with diplomatic manipulations with other world leaders. Who knew humans, dust mites and a lurking virus could be at the center of a very entertaining story. Other than feeling it was a bit too drawn out, I really enjoyed The Rationing.
Thanks to Goodreads for an arc of the book.
Thanks to Goodreads for an arc of the book.
August 14, 2021
The story goes that when Stanley Kubrick made “Dr Strangelove”, he originally intended to make a serious movie but because of the subject matter he ended up making a farce. I kept waiting for that to happen with this book. The subject matter is very serious but given the caricatures that represented the fleshing out of most of the characters and the inane discussions that represented serious thinking about rationing procedures, I kept waiting for the turn to full satire. I really did expect the dialogue on the rationing of the drug to turn to the ranking of college degrees as Ivy Leaguers undoubtedly had he most to offer the country. Alas, it was not to be. Also, a good editor would have pointed out to the author that the Berlin wall and the Berlin airlift had nothing to do with each other. Even I , a poor graduate of a public university knew that much. Kudos on the idea for the book, not so much for the execution.
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