Voices from the Pandemic: Americans Tell Their Stories of Crisis, Courage and Resilience

by Eli Saslow

From Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter Eli Saslow, a powerful portrait of a country grappling with the pandemic, told through voices of people from all across America

The Covid-19 pandemic was a world-shattering event, affecting everyone in the nation. From its first ominous stirrings, renowned journalist Eli Saslow began interviewing a cross-section of Americans, capturing their experiences in real time: An exhausted and anguished EMT risking his life in New York City; a grocery store owner feeding his neighborhood for free in locked-down New Orleans; an overwhelmed coroner in Georgia; a Maryland restaurateur forced to close his family business after forty-six years; an Arizona teacher wrestling with her fears and her obligations to her students; rural citizens adamant that the whole thing is a hoax, and retail workers attacked for asking people to wear masks; patients struggling to breathe and doctors desperately trying to save them.

Through Saslow's masterful, empathetic interviewing, we are given a kaleidoscopic picture of a people dealing with the unimaginable. These deeply personal accounts make for cathartic reading, as we see Americans at their worst, and at their resilient best.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Health, Essays, Biography, Medical, Memoir

240 pages, Hardcover

First published September 28, 2021

About the author

Eli Saslow is an author and a staff writer for The Washington Post, where he travels the country to write in-depth stories about the impact of major national issues on individual lives. He won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting for a series of stories about the rise of food stamps and hunger in the United States. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in feature writing in 2013, 2016 and 2017. An occasional contributor to ESPN the Magazine, four of his stories have been anthologized in Best American Sportswriting. He grew up in Denver, graduated from Syracuse University and now lives in Portland, Or., with his wife and three children.

Reviews

[Donna Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eli Saslow is the journalist that wrote Rising Out of Hatred, the story of former White Supremacist Derek Black, in 2018. When I was offered the chance to read and review his new book, Voices from the Pandemic, I jumped on it, because I like this author a lot. Once I had it, I avoided it like the plague (pardon the reference) for a couple months, wondering just what I had been thinking, to sign on for something like this. In the end, I am glad to have read it.

My thanks go to Doubleday and Net Galley for the review copy.

Saslow tells us in the introduction that he expected to become depressed, perhaps numbed, by all of these interviews, but ultimately was galvanized by “their empathy, their insight, their candor and emotional courage.” Fair enough, but an awful lot of these stories are gut-wrenching. For whatever reason, he chooses to start with some of the most horrific ones, but as we work our way into the book, there are several that are not about the excruciating, grim death of a loved one, but are interesting for different reasons. There are stories of essential workers, of coroners, and medical professionals. One that has stayed with me is that of a middle aged man, ex-military, who is finally compelled, when everyone in the household loses their livelihoods, to visit a food bank. He gets there two hours before it opens to be on the safe side, and discovers that there’s already a huge, hours-long line.

My favorite story is that of Bruce MacGillis, a wily old man that barricades himself in his room in his nursing home, lets nobody in, throws open his windows in subfreezing weather, and stuffs towels underneath the doorway to keep out other people’s germs. He ends up being one of two residents that are spared, out of eighty-nine residents. (My notes say, “Hell yeah!”) On December 28, he lets a nurse come in to administer his vaccine. I hope that man lives to be a hundred.

There are some stories by vaccine deniers, mask avoiders, included here, but if you are among them, you probably won’t enjoy this book. It leans heavily toward science, and away from conspiracy theories.

After I’d procrastinated reading this thing, I checked out the audio version at Seattle Bibliocommons to give myself a leg up. I thought it might be easier to hear these stories while I was also engaged in some other task, so I fired it up while I was slicing bell peppers and marinating meat. If anything, it was worse that way. Well—to be fair—worse, and also better. There’s a separate reader for each story, and the hard ones are read with such searing emotion that it makes them all the worse. The saving grace is that each person’s story is concisely told, so there was only one time that I hit the stop button and fast-forwarded to the next one. At the outset, I only listened for a few minutes at a go, and then turned to listen to another book, something light and fictional, to restore my mood. By the second half, I no longer needed to do that.

The book only covers the 2020 portion of the pandemic, but I’m not sure it would sound much different had he waited to include the whole horrible thing. (It will be over someday…won’t it?)

Recommended, for those that can do this.

[Novel Visits · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me begin by thanking @gilmoreguide for pointing me toward 𝐕𝐎𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐂 and encouraging me to give it a chance. I initially felt like it was too soon. We are still in the midst of this pandemic, so to look back felt a little premature, but I was wrong. Worldwide, we all share the COVID pandemic, and almost every person who has lived through it could tell you their story. We’ll all be doing so for a very long time. We know our own stories, and those of our friends and relatives, but there are many, many more stories out there. Journalist Eli Saslow interviewed a cross-section of Americans, gathering together a wide swath of pandemic experiences.⁣
⁣
With twenty-seven different people/families, Saslow showed how very divergent our experiences really have been. Some of the chapters took me completely by surprise, others I expected, many moved me, and several made me cry. One of those was a chapter by an NYC paramedic at the peak of COVID deaths there. Another followed a family watching their 52-year old mother slowly die. There were stories of immeasurable kindness and unrelenting grief; stories that highlighted community unity and others that mourned our national divides. ⁣
⁣
I listened to 𝘝𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤, beautifully read by a large cast of talented narrators. In that, and many other ways it reminded me of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘬𝘺 by Garrett Graff, both strong oral histories. Though we didn’t all directly experience 9/11, none of us will ever be able to forget its horrors, and surely the same is true of life during the COVID pandemic. I highly recommend this book, whether you read or listen. It’s not too soon.

[Lorraine Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an absolutely beautiful, necessary and powerful collection of pandemic stories. As heartbreaking as this book is, it’s incredibly eye-opening and sadly extremely realistic as well. I must say, this book has helped me put things into perspective and become immensely thankful for my government’s stellar efforts in managing Covid-19 in my country.

The only “major” improvement this book could have was the author could have varied the tone (at least just slightly) to differentiate each POV more significantly, truly giving each person their own voice to match their own real and powerful stories.

Nonetheless, this book still gets a 5⭐️ rating for me by how phenomenal it is. This has become my favorite non-fiction book, and I’m pleasantly surprised I was highly intrigued and hooked onto this book throughout, since I’m not a huge fan of non-fiction, historical books.

My heart goes out to all the people who shared their story in this book and to everyone in the world right now. We’re all struggling with the effects of this destructive virus, but we can pull through and become victorious. I hope everyone stays safe and remember to cling onto hope! Wishing you all good health and a good support system to find solace in. ❤️‍🩹

[Jenny Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's something super weird about reading a historical artifact while the event remains ongoing. I'm glad this collection exists. To be honest, there have been so many strange phases to this thing, and there's so much that I had already forgotten. It's good to have a record with a wide variety of perspectives.

For me, now (November 2021) was perhaps too soon to actually read this piece. To some extent, I think this book was a bit of a Rorschach Test. My grandmother found it inspiring - stories of the triumph of the American spirit. I just felt sad. For every story about people going to heroic lengths to take care of each other, there was another about how we as a society failed each other. There were few featuring such staggering selfishness that it left me incensed. So many people risked so much, so many more lost so much, and I guess I'm just not ready yet to let go of my anger at the people whose attitude during this crisis seemed to be "I got mine, screw everyone else."

[Jocelyn Chin · Rating 5 out of 5]

this collection of oral histories was so carefully narrated and brilliantly edited together; i highly highly recommend. the author clearly is a great interviewer. each person’s voice and perspective shone through even tho each piece was short, and i feel like i really got to hear and know their story.

i listened to a portion of this as an audiobook and that was an EXCELLENT choice bc it was doubly moving. i listened to it while driving to and from work this week and there was not a single car ride during which i didn’t weep a little. the pandemic was truly so difficult & i feel so lucky to have come out of it so relatively unscathed.

i was surprised that there weren’t any asians in it. but also i understand why the author picked each and every one of the individuals he did.

i really liked the way some chapters had split POVs. for example, a head nurse at a hospital + a nurse who quit. or different members of a family where two seemingly healthy teenage sons had to be put on ventilators. or a 65-yo store counter clerk in NC who fights with customers about the mask mandate + an anti-masker. or a man in line at a food bank + a woman who runs a food bank. or a man in a nursing home + a nursing home staff. this book reminded me how deeply and differently covid affected americans. the oral history delivery was just so good, and i also think this book does a great job depicting how difficult it was for healthcare workers (there were many healthcare workers interviewed for this). HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND. it’s also a fast read.

i’ve lowkey been on a journalist-authored-book bender…

i was recommended this book by a co-teacher. we are teaching an intensive course (3 full weeks) titled We the People: The Human Story of the 2024 Presidential Election. Our high schoolers will be conducting interviews and putting together an oral history anthology inspired by this book, as well as a podcast like This American Life’s episode in 2016 after Trump was first elected. I’m totally nervous but also excited to see who my students meet and what stories they’ll find and how they’ll tell it.

EDIT on 11/08: MY CO-TEACHER EMAILED ELI SASLOW AND HE EMAILED BACK OMG WE R GONNA GET TO ZOOM WITH THIS PULITZER PRIZE WINNING JOURNALIST

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Voices from the Pandemic
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

*thank you @doubledaybooks for the #gifted copy in exchange for an honest review*

I finished reading this book last night and I can’t stop thinking about the stories that I read. A cross-section of Americans and their experiences in real time is what fills this book. We hear from an exhausted and underpaid EMT in NYC, a grocery store owner feeding his neighborhood for free, an overwhelmed coroner, nurses, teachers, citizens and patients.

During the pandemic I was watching the news like probably everyone else, but I didn’t hear these types of stories. It’s surreal to read this while the pandemic is still going on, and I can imagine in 20 years from now kids will be amazed to read this and hear of the crazy stories of the pandemic.

There’s really no words to describe how important this literature is. I’m sure in 100 years the textbooks will include a short chapter about the coronavirus pandemic, and stories like this should be included.

In reference to reading this book, it’s easily laid out in short chapters packed with emotion.

I can’t recommend this book enough, but read it when you’re in a good place. I thought reading about the pandemic would have been fine but there were some stories that made me cry and need to stop reading for a few hours. Take care of yourself 🖤

Thank you, Eli Saslow for writing such an important story.

[Denise Chojnacki · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are very few books that I think would benefit everyone from reading and this is one. I'm not into telling people how to think or what choices to make. However, in a very divided country; this gives perspective from both sides of the pandemic and it is all at once heartbreaking and eye-opening. Sometimes we view things from our own personal narrative and that is dangerous. There have been so many lives impacted by Covid. It's important to hear the voices of those people. They deserve to be heard. I challenge you to pick up this book and not be moved by what you read. Hopefully, moved with compassion.

[Katelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow--this book is a stand out! Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Eli Saslow spent hundreds of hours interviewing people during the COVID-19 pandemic about their many, varied experiences. He features many of these interviews in this book. As someone living in rural Minnesota, it was eye opening to see what people in different places went through. I stayed up way too late reading this and devoured it in two nights. Highly readable.

[Katelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow--this book is a stand out! Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Eli Saslow spent hundreds of hours interviewing people during the COVID-19 pandemic about their many, varied experiences. He features many of these interviews in this book. As someone living in rural Minnesota, it was eye opening to see what people in different places went through. I stayed up way too late reading this and devoured it in two nights. Highly readable.

[Amanda Block · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might be the most powerful collection of stores I’ve ever read. I listened on audio and I would highly recommend. I cried a lot and took a couple breaks from it, but it will be sticking with me for a very long time.

[Angela Pineda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully heartbreaking. “Voices of the Pandemic” tells the personal stories of real people during the Covid 19 pandemic in 2020 and early 2021. Some of these include - A grocery store cashier, a grocery store owner in a small town, a town coroner, a school administrator, nurses (both veteran and ones working their first job), an elderly gentleman living in a nursing home, etc etc. Hearing personal stories of loss - both financial and personal - made this a tough but necessary read.

I listened to this on audio, and the narrators are excellent.
I caught myself tearing up a few times and I cried once during the epilogue (thankfully those were happy tears!)

There’s some books I put in the category of, “Must read to become a better human” and this book is the newest addition to the list.

[Kari · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a intriguing read that will stand the test of times and one day be a piece of history more valuable than anything you remember. It tells the accounts of living through the COVID-19 Pandemic through the eyes and the stories of many that lived in fear, risked their lives, struggled to survive after being afflicted and so many more. It literally chills you recounting the moments when we first became aware, had to wear masks and go on lockdown. It tells of loss of jobs, businesses and life. It is a book that would be an excellent resource to reread and pass on to decades to come. Don’t miss these firsthand accounts from real people that lived the Pandemic and have stories you will want to remember and keep in your heart forever.

[JoAnn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!! I highly recommend listening to the multi-narrator production of this oral history.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

A difficult but worthwhile read. I told my husband that I had PTSD from reading about other people’s pandemic experiences and he told me it couldn’t be PTSD since the pandemic isn’t over yet. Harsh, but true.

[Patricia Romero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eli Saslow is one of the best at explaining things. Traveling around gathering data but also stories of people’s experiences. Some painful, some hopeful, but all true.

Covid-19 snuck up on all of us while we were paying attention to the antics of the administration. And from the start, Mr. Saslow started talking to Americans all over. From all walks of life. This book is the culmination of all of those conversations. From the exhausted health workers to the unemployed facing hardships, his stories are heartbreaking.

What are a teacher’s responsibilities to her students versus her family? How about the people who still think it is a hoax, even on their deathbeds. This pandemic has pitted us against each other. Family members and friends fall by the wayside if they aren’t vaccinated.

Where do we draw a line? The accounts in this book are real and their stories will make you think, cry, and feel just as helpless as the rest of us. I did a lot of crying over this one and I needed that.

Always a pleasure.

NetGalley/Doubleday 28 September 2021

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book brought closure for me and helped me wrap my head around the pandemic. Recently, I had a conversation with a family member about what as a nation did we learn from the pandemic? If it happened again, what mistakes would likely be repeated? Barriers immediately went up and I realized how hard talking about the pandemic is for many Americans. There is no widely accepted narrative that the American people can agree on regarding what actually happened.

Eli Saslow really brings the reader back into that chaotic, scary, and exhausting year from the discovery of the virus to the early roll-out of the vaccine. Yet, the stories he compiled actually gave me hope, they helped me understand and empathize with the divergent experiences Americans struggled though in that incredibly difficult year.

I cannot speak more highly of the work Eli Saslow has done in his three major publications (Ten Letters, Rising Out of Hatred, and Voices From the Pandemic), he is master journalist and a voice of reason the American people desperately need.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have pandemic fatigue like so many others but I chose to read this book because I wanted to get a broader understanding of the impact from the perspective of others. It delivered for me by expanding my understanding of the view from other's professions, cultures and circumstances. I'm still very anxious to "move on" from this pandemic but, possibly, my own capacity for compassion has been strengthened so I'm glad I read it. I'm also filled with gratitude for the sacrifices of others and my own good fortune.

[Trilby Wolff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. We, as a people, have been through so much during this pandemic. The stories in this book have helped me to gain perspective about the traumas that people are dealing with because of covid. Every person's individual experience is different than anyone else's and we all have to work through it and learn to cope with what has happened to us. This book has just helped me to look beyond myself and my frustrations about how my life was spent these last two years.

The pandemic has changed so many lives and it will be a part of our history books, so I think it's important that these stories will be there for people to look back on and remember as we are finally starting to get back to normal life.

I don't usually pick up nonfiction, but this book caught my eye in the library one day and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I'm glad that I went back to get it the next day.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an incredibly powerful read. I was humbled, challenged, and encouraged by reading the perspectives and experiences of so many Americans over the past year.

I appreciated that the author purposefully interviewed individuals from a wide variety of demographics. I especially liked when stories were paired, as in the case of the evicted tenant and the landlord.

Since March of 2020, there have been so many problems and differences of opinion that have given rise to conflict and anger. "Voices of the Pandemic" illustrates the fact that there are no easy answers, and our fellow Americans should not be our enemies.

[Mallory (onmalsshelf) Bartel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher for this galley

This is another backlist NetGalley that I waited to read due to my own anxiety surrounding COVID.

I’m glad that I finally picked it up and highly recommend on audio.

A great collection of different voices from around the country during 2020. It covers topics from COVID diagnosis, death, 2020 election, and vaccines.

If you think you can handle listening to some really difficult essays, I highly recommend

[Lisa Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid 4.5, although I debated about rounding up to a 5. It has been on my list to read for awhile and I kept thinking it was “too soon.” With 2025 here and the onset of COVID almost 5 years behind us, I thought it was time. These stories brought back so many memories which really feel like this was all just yesterday. I kept thinking, “HOW was this almost 5 years ago?!?” So many sad stories and so many of us had our own. I felt like my story could be included, as pretty much everyone’s could!

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful book detailing a variety of perspectives on how Americans navigated the first year of the pandemic. This will be an important work for future generations to gain a better understanding of how the pandemic affected the lives of average Americans. Narratives from an EMT, a landlord, a restaurant owner, a superintendent, a nursing home worker and many more are featured in this unforgettable book.

[Debbi (My Reading Spot) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought it would be too early to read this book, but it was so interesting and I couldn’t put it down. I enjoyed the short interviews, some were eye opening some were experiences I was familiar with. I think everyone should read this! Soo good!”

[Karyn Bowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read it until I could no longer do it, about 3/4 of the way through. It reminded me of those early days and the attitudes that followed. It was good but heart-breaking, too. I would suggest it to anyone but be mindful of the times and situations of these people.

[Cierra · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

covid equally feels like it was 10 years ago and 10 days ago. it is mind boggling to have lived through this moment in history and read a book like this... that will be read by people who don't remember, were too young, or weren't born yet.
this book does an incredible job of narrating so many individual experiences. from the front line workers, teachers, and stay at home moms.. to the landlords, nursing home patients, and the unemployed.. then covid deniers, protesters, and anti-maskers. the insight and lack of bias towards each person's story was both refreshing and at times infuriating.
we saw on the news how different groups of people were being affected but not like this. so many (myself included) were lucky enough to be so wrapped up in our own lives staying in our safe little bubbles, there was no way to fully grasp how life altering this was for so many people. this book certainly helped with that.

[Jennifer Spellman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written stories about how the pandemic affected ordinary Americans.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

I happened upon this book at the library. It was a lot better then I expected. I felt it was a balanced look at what has happened and is happening in our country with COVID. It’s so good to read about other people’s lives/ perspectives!

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compelling, emotional, but important read. I wondered if it would be too soon to read this since the pandemic isn't yet in the review mirror, but so much of the US acts like it is that even these accounts feel like a lifetime ago. I had read a few of the profiles as they were published in the Post, but new or familiar, each one still packed a punch. This is vital reading and an incredibly important historical document of contemporary accounts that will serve to remind us, especially in the face of our frail human brains' habit of remembering things as much better or less painful then they were, how truly awful, heartbreaking, and divisive the COVID-19 pandemic was. Each story reads like the interviewee is speaking directly to you - it doesn't get much realer than that. History won't look back kindly on how this pandemic and our response played out.

[Laura Solar · Rating 5 out of 5]

While Voices From the Pandemic is barely 200 pages, this is not a book I could binge read. The book is a series of stories from people from all walks of life sharing their experiences of the pandemic as they were happening. I wanted to throw this book across the room at times and cry into it at others. All of the interviews are from people in the US, and this book really displays just how divided this country is, and how misguided some of the population is. I won’t preach about the importance of masks and getting vaccinated, but if anyone has doubts about the devastating effects of this virus, this is a hard look at reality.

Thank you so much to @doubledaybooks for the ARC. Voices From the Pandemic will be published on September 28.