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New Guinea Tapeworms and Jewish Grandmothers: Tales of Parasites and People
A while ago, DDT and the antimalarial drug chloroquine seemed sure to make us all safe from such invisible assault.
It was not to be. The mosquito has become resistant to DDT; malaria is on the rise; although tapeworms rarely turn up any longer in the most lovingly prepared New York City gefilte fish, a worm may inhabit your sashimi; some strains of gonorrhea actually thrive on penicillin; there is even a parasite for the higher tax brackets—the "nymph of Nantucket"; and there are new ailments—legionnaire's disease, Lassa fever, and new strains of influenza.
In the long run, one might bet on the insects and the germs. Meanwhile Dr. Robert Desowitz has written a delightful and instructive book.
It was not to be. The mosquito has become resistant to DDT; malaria is on the rise; although tapeworms rarely turn up any longer in the most lovingly prepared New York City gefilte fish, a worm may inhabit your sashimi; some strains of gonorrhea actually thrive on penicillin; there is even a parasite for the higher tax brackets—the "nymph of Nantucket"; and there are new ailments—legionnaire's disease, Lassa fever, and new strains of influenza.
In the long run, one might bet on the insects and the germs. Meanwhile Dr. Robert Desowitz has written a delightful and instructive book.
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First published January 1, 1982
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
April 22, 2019
Now, right off the bat, it should be known that I am most assuredly not the intended audience for this book. This is clearly written for people that are either deep in their schooling for medicine or have already built a career in one field or another related to medicine. With that being said, this book is a fucking slog.
It's written in a profoundly irritating way that seems to be nothing more than hyperbolic statements jammed into sentences structured to fit as many five or more syllable words as possible. This is not to say I need my books to have short punchy sentences with simplistic word usage, but after 200 plus pages of endless sentences stuffed with obnoxiously turgid phrasing it became impossible to not simply rewrite the book in my head as I read it. After a while it stops sounding smart, it stops being interesting to read,and it becomes annoying. I read it in my head in the most pompous voice I could devise.
Worse than the word choices were the aforementioned hyperbolic statements and suggestions. I read through the entire index and references section and I still wasn't put at ease with the extensive and endless assumptions made in this book. It may have been in reference to a certain span of years where its suggested some such ailment of bug had been around for perhaps ten years, but also maybe ten thousand. Or that, in fact, something that was considered to have been a new species was actually a million years old. If it wasn't about that, it was about the amount, or percentage, or people that are afflicted in a given area with whatever disease is being discussed in that chapter. Sometimes it's five percent, but also maybe seventy. There were a few times that it was claimed one hundred percent of people had one sickness or another. That's 100%. As in virtually everyone. None of these claims, be they in a small and believable number or be they the entirety of a population, were given any actual reference or revelation as to where these numbers came from. It was as if they were just tossed out onto the page and since they were surrounded by half a dictionary of bullshit words and Latin phrases they must be taken as truth. That's not really how it works.
There was also a tedious amount of non-information in this book. In every chapter, or 100% of the book, it is declared that "We don't really know", "We haven't figured it out, "It's a mystery", " Research is not completed", etc etc. So I'm reading this book about parasites and bugs and diseases but everything is just up in the air. There are no answers or remedies or cures or anything. I understand medicine is an ever shifting science and new things are discovered every day. But I feel like if someone were to sit down and write a book about a buncha diseases and bugs, they'd at least wanna have an answer or two. Perhaps a solid and well backed suggestion at the least. Not a lot of ramblings about side effects and ailments and dangers and then.....nothing. I am aware of the fact that a lot has changed in the medical world since 1980, when this book was published. I'm sure that a lot of the open-endedness of this book has probably been cleared up by now, and that's all well and good. But the point remains, if you're going to write a book maybe go ahead and have everything you need first.
With all that being said, I won't lie and say I didn't learn anything. Some of the things in here are very interesting, almost fascinating when in reference to culture and history, and I would absolutely never have known any of them if I didn't pick this book up. Some of the allusions and stories were funny enough, and even though this book took me forever to push through it is blessedly short.
Like I said, I am not the target audience for this book. I get that and I respect that fact. I am sure there are plenty of people for which this book is intended that got a helluva lot more out of it then I did. But that doesn't change the flaws in the book that go beyond the subject matter. I certainly wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, but hey, I'm no doctor.
It's written in a profoundly irritating way that seems to be nothing more than hyperbolic statements jammed into sentences structured to fit as many five or more syllable words as possible. This is not to say I need my books to have short punchy sentences with simplistic word usage, but after 200 plus pages of endless sentences stuffed with obnoxiously turgid phrasing it became impossible to not simply rewrite the book in my head as I read it. After a while it stops sounding smart, it stops being interesting to read,and it becomes annoying. I read it in my head in the most pompous voice I could devise.
Worse than the word choices were the aforementioned hyperbolic statements and suggestions. I read through the entire index and references section and I still wasn't put at ease with the extensive and endless assumptions made in this book. It may have been in reference to a certain span of years where its suggested some such ailment of bug had been around for perhaps ten years, but also maybe ten thousand. Or that, in fact, something that was considered to have been a new species was actually a million years old. If it wasn't about that, it was about the amount, or percentage, or people that are afflicted in a given area with whatever disease is being discussed in that chapter. Sometimes it's five percent, but also maybe seventy. There were a few times that it was claimed one hundred percent of people had one sickness or another. That's 100%. As in virtually everyone. None of these claims, be they in a small and believable number or be they the entirety of a population, were given any actual reference or revelation as to where these numbers came from. It was as if they were just tossed out onto the page and since they were surrounded by half a dictionary of bullshit words and Latin phrases they must be taken as truth. That's not really how it works.
There was also a tedious amount of non-information in this book. In every chapter, or 100% of the book, it is declared that "We don't really know", "We haven't figured it out, "It's a mystery", " Research is not completed", etc etc. So I'm reading this book about parasites and bugs and diseases but everything is just up in the air. There are no answers or remedies or cures or anything. I understand medicine is an ever shifting science and new things are discovered every day. But I feel like if someone were to sit down and write a book about a buncha diseases and bugs, they'd at least wanna have an answer or two. Perhaps a solid and well backed suggestion at the least. Not a lot of ramblings about side effects and ailments and dangers and then.....nothing. I am aware of the fact that a lot has changed in the medical world since 1980, when this book was published. I'm sure that a lot of the open-endedness of this book has probably been cleared up by now, and that's all well and good. But the point remains, if you're going to write a book maybe go ahead and have everything you need first.
With all that being said, I won't lie and say I didn't learn anything. Some of the things in here are very interesting, almost fascinating when in reference to culture and history, and I would absolutely never have known any of them if I didn't pick this book up. Some of the allusions and stories were funny enough, and even though this book took me forever to push through it is blessedly short.
Like I said, I am not the target audience for this book. I get that and I respect that fact. I am sure there are plenty of people for which this book is intended that got a helluva lot more out of it then I did. But that doesn't change the flaws in the book that go beyond the subject matter. I certainly wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, but hey, I'm no doctor.
March 27, 2020
[4.5] Ok! So...things have been off for a few months, both personally and professionally. And now of course we’re all facing societal challenges. It’s far from the most acutely stressful time of my life; I’ve had periods of work or home life where everything is spinning and I don’t know up from down. This isn’t that.
But things have been unbalanced for a while, and the blues have crept in and made themselves a little nest. One manifestation of things not being right in the kingdom has been my prolonged reading slump.
There is a weird mixture of anxiety and apathy when you start to lose interest in something important to you. I’ve tried different tactics - comfort reads, books I’m really excited about, audiobooks. Things have been slowly getting better, and apparently, despite the fact that we are in the beginning of a global pandemic, the heart wants what it wants...classic parasitology.
Written in the 80’s, there’s some outdated material and a few stereotypes here and there. But this was a short, damn enjoyable read. This epidemiologist even learned a new disease or two (hello, Anisakiasis!).
Things I liked: wry writing, classic epidemiology, a good mixture of science and anthropology, grad school nostalgia, adventurous scientists, satisfaction that we’ve made some advances in medicine since the book’s publication.
But things have been unbalanced for a while, and the blues have crept in and made themselves a little nest. One manifestation of things not being right in the kingdom has been my prolonged reading slump.
There is a weird mixture of anxiety and apathy when you start to lose interest in something important to you. I’ve tried different tactics - comfort reads, books I’m really excited about, audiobooks. Things have been slowly getting better, and apparently, despite the fact that we are in the beginning of a global pandemic, the heart wants what it wants...classic parasitology.
Written in the 80’s, there’s some outdated material and a few stereotypes here and there. But this was a short, damn enjoyable read. This epidemiologist even learned a new disease or two (hello, Anisakiasis!).
Things I liked: wry writing, classic epidemiology, a good mixture of science and anthropology, grad school nostalgia, adventurous scientists, satisfaction that we’ve made some advances in medicine since the book’s publication.
May 19, 2014
Dr. Desowitz has a dry wit that keeps the reader engaged in what could otherwise have been a very technical and medical-ese book. He's an epidemiologist of the old school – one who goes into the field, puts boots on the ground, and sometimes picks up a parasite during the course of his work.
Parasites are icky little critters, but have had and continue to have a profound effect on humans, particularly in regions that are already challenged in other ways, including environmental, economic, and cultural factors. Those of us in the developed world tend to overlook the impact parasite infections have on other people. So when Bill Gates says he's working to eradicate malaria, it's worth remembering that, just because you don't know anyone with malaria, doesn't mean its effects aren't felt worldwide.
Parasites are icky little critters, but have had and continue to have a profound effect on humans, particularly in regions that are already challenged in other ways, including environmental, economic, and cultural factors. Those of us in the developed world tend to overlook the impact parasite infections have on other people. So when Bill Gates says he's working to eradicate malaria, it's worth remembering that, just because you don't know anyone with malaria, doesn't mean its effects aren't felt worldwide.
January 3, 2022
This was a charming, if somewhat outdated, look at parasites from around the world. Since this was written in the 80s, some of the "promising" medications he mentions are now the standard of care in the treatment of parasitic disease. Even so, I appreciated the various case studies throughout the book regarding the pathological impact of public health and economic programs. I would recommend this book to any scientist or clinician with an interest in history or parasites. A person without a significant biology background may find this difficult to read.
February 20, 2009
Not quite as good as Desowitz's "The Malaria Capers," but a great short read for anyone interested in infectious disease or public health efforts in the developing world. Desowitz is a somewhat scattered author, but I always enjoy his digressions, and he has a great sense of humor.
January 26, 2020
Okay, I think I missed the Jewish Grandmothers part...definitely did not miss the worm parts. I teach immunology to nurses and pre-meds all the time. As I tell them honestly, I really hate worms. I love to study viruses and bacteria, but worms...yuck! Especially tape worms. But apparently places like Africa have worms that can do more damage than tapeworms in a variety of ways. This book is not for the squeamish. I worked in the morgue shortly (usually getting brains for studies), but that's nothing to dealing with parasites who are the bane of man's existence. And we need to know more about them because without infrastructure of medical care, all of us are at risk. The trouble is, we are causing more problems with worms since we are invading forests and other areas which we haven't previously settled. This exposes us as possible hosts to other worms and parasites. We are also changing the ecosystems by damming water in places which leads to changes in ecosystems down hill from the dams, often for the worse. Worms, fleas, mosquitoes, mites, lice...the list goes on and on...all of these can bear viral and bacterial disease. So how do we get rid of these guys? Desowitz talks about DDT, and other means of controlling parasites...some of which do harm on their own like DDT. Malaria is still the number one disease in the world, killing and disabling many people every year. DDT did the job originally, until we became so aware that DDT was killing animals we didn't want to kill like the bald eagle.
The big question, is what do we do now about parasites? Another reviewer said she'd love it if the author would do another book about what is being done now, more current information. I'm sure we've found new parasites in places that have just recently been explored. Any takers?
The big question, is what do we do now about parasites? Another reviewer said she'd love it if the author would do another book about what is being done now, more current information. I'm sure we've found new parasites in places that have just recently been explored. Any takers?
July 24, 2020
I only read this book because it is Jeff’s favorite, but I am very glad I did. Epidemiology doesn’t seem interesting, but the author made each chapter an engaging and fascinating story about a single disease and it’s complications. What I enjoyed most was the interweaving of policy, public health, anthropology, and biology. Very timely read, even though it was published in the late 70s.
Some ideas to dissect and build on:
“The moral dilemmas arise because health professionals trained in the West have held a philosophy affirming the importance of individual human life and the right of every member of the community to good health... [We] are now beginning to question the wisdom of instituting such measures as malaria control unless they are accompanied by effective population control programs, the expansion of resources to feed, clothe, educate, and house the increased population.”
“It is doubtful whether progress for the people of the developing world, as we define progress, can be achieved unless malaria and other diseases draining their intellectual and physical energies can be brought under control. What is now required is a holistic approach.”
Some ideas to dissect and build on:
“The moral dilemmas arise because health professionals trained in the West have held a philosophy affirming the importance of individual human life and the right of every member of the community to good health... [We] are now beginning to question the wisdom of instituting such measures as malaria control unless they are accompanied by effective population control programs, the expansion of resources to feed, clothe, educate, and house the increased population.”
“It is doubtful whether progress for the people of the developing world, as we define progress, can be achieved unless malaria and other diseases draining their intellectual and physical energies can be brought under control. What is now required is a holistic approach.”
July 27, 2017
Not my favorite - this reads like a watered down textbook on assorted tropical diseases and in that respect it is informative. However, it was written in 1980 and a lot has happened in the world of infectious diseases since that time (i.e. HIV/AIDS) so a reader is missing out on that chapter of the story. The data that is presented though is factual up to that point so from an historical perspective, it is intriguing to learn the history of various parasitic-derived diseases and the impact of human behavior in their persistence. Those readers with absolutely no background in this field will probably find this more interesting but anyone with medical or public health training it will be somewhat redundant.
November 20, 2017
Very enjoyable read, Desowitz has a very conversational style of writing. It's a look at human-hosted parasites and their spread through populations due to human actions and how medical professionals can successfully work with infected people to eradicate the parasites or fail horribly. I appreciate the focus on social sciences and their necessity when working with different groups of people beyond just handing them some pills and saying that they have to take them or they'll stay sick. The language of the book is dated, although that's not surprising from a book first written in 1976. A fun and relevant introduction to parasitology for casual reading.
December 12, 2022
I first read this book some twenty years ago on recommendation of my parasitology professor. I found it a really uplifting book that I would pick up whenever I felt down, full of hope for public health improvements going forward... and then I read Desowitz's latest book a few years ago and it's such a contrast. So many hopes were dashed, advances backtracked... corruption and despair replacing hopefulness as the main 'feel' of the book. So I can no longer read this book from the 70s with the same lens. I still think it's a great book for anyone with an interest in tropical medicine or parasitic disease, but it's certainly not for everyone.
September 15, 2021
Unbelievable. Self promoting. Political. Tainted. Leading the reader down the road they want you to believe. Pack full of half truths. So you might believe it. Not a science analysis. Doesn’t present the other side of the coin of truths. Just enough so you can’t see what should be seen after reading this. Leaving you hopeless. And we wonder why everyone’s getting depressed. There is hope. There is another side to the coin. But you won’t find it in this book unless your a pro at reading between lines.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 30, 2018
The book 'New Guinea Tapeworms and Jewish Grandmothers: Tales of Parasites and People' tells many stories about Parasites such as Malaria, and others like it. It talks about the differences between humans and camels, and other things along those lines. I really enjoyed this book because I have always been a fan of science, especially the things that we cant see with the naked eye. I really think that those interested in the sciences would enjoy this book.
July 15, 2024
i liked the discussions about the connection between colonialism, environmental degradation, and infectious disease. strong endorsement for culturally conscious public health interventions, which are more likely to succeed and acknowledge that those receiving the intervention are also human
December 24, 2025
Read this book with my parasitology professor for an honors college contract and it was amazing. I needed up buying it. I recommended it to any science enthusiast whether you’re a casual learner or involved in the field. Would also be a good read for people with no science background whatsoever.
May 21, 2018
I bought this book at the library book sale for $1 based purely on the title. Well worth it. Hilariously readable and interesting. I read the chapter on poop while eating lunch.
November 13, 2020
Maybe a little out of date now, but still fascinating.
April 18, 2025
Great! 40 years old, but coherent and well structured. Each chapter is a different parasite and geography, medical in nature but easy for a layman to understand. I will read more from him.
January 2, 2021
This book is absolutely vintage Robert Desowitz, who had an unmistakable sardonic wit and peculiar though humorous writing style. This book is a true classic in the annals of parasitology literature for the lay audience.
April 15, 2020
Exceptional. Would recommend to anyone who is interested in sociology, epidemiology, parasitology or biomedicine. Reads almost like a murder mystery while giving medically accurate descriptions and a report of different cultures.
December 25, 2010
When Desowitz went to medical school in the early 1950s, he wanted to specialize in malaria, but his professor told him to choose something else, because malaria was about to be eradicated. More than 50 years later, this is not the case, and the situation is even worse because in many countries the mosquitoes have become pesticide resistant. There is a meme going round the Russophone blogosphere: misanthropic environmentalists caused a ban of DDT, which caused a resurgence of malaria, which has killed more people than Hitler. This book is one of many resources that refute this meme. DDT is banned in agriculture; when fields were sprayed with it, the concentration was not strong enough to kill all the mosquitoes, and those with resistance to the pesticide survived. So now in many countries where DDT has been sprayed, it has become ineffective when used specifically against malaria (e.g. put on mosquito nets).
July 21, 2008
A gift from my father-in-law.
An excellent primer in parasites, from microscopic details of their life cycles to detailed descriptions of the symptoms they cause in humans to our strategies to combat them, all told in a witty and eminently readable style. Each chapter generally covers a different parasite, from the familiar, such as tapeworms, Plasmodium (which cause malaria), trypanosomes (which cause sleeping sickness), and Onchocerca (which cause river blindness), to parasites I've never heard of, such as Anisakis (which can be found in sashimi), Babesia (which causes malaria-like symptoms right here in North America), and Giardia (which is so common I am surprised I have never heard of it, once again, right here in North America).
An excellent primer in parasites, from microscopic details of their life cycles to detailed descriptions of the symptoms they cause in humans to our strategies to combat them, all told in a witty and eminently readable style. Each chapter generally covers a different parasite, from the familiar, such as tapeworms, Plasmodium (which cause malaria), trypanosomes (which cause sleeping sickness), and Onchocerca (which cause river blindness), to parasites I've never heard of, such as Anisakis (which can be found in sashimi), Babesia (which causes malaria-like symptoms right here in North America), and Giardia (which is so common I am surprised I have never heard of it, once again, right here in North America).
January 19, 2010
A chapter on tapeworms, sleeping sickness, river blindness, schistosomiasis, babesisosis, and guiardia...what's not to like? I had to read this twice because it was so entertaining and covered so much ground that after I read it the first time, I realized I didn't remember half of it! There is discussion of the evolutionary relationship between humans and their parasites, natural history of certain parasites, oddly enough, the benefits conferred by parasites, and how political actions and public works can exacerbate or mitigate parasites. There is also some discussion of misunderstanding between different cultures and its effect on the effort to control parasitism.
December 27, 2013
This is a really good survey of a handful of neglected tropical diseases. It's a nice break from the popular science style of The Hot Zone, but that being said it requires in depth knowledge of and interest in malaria, schisto and the likes to appreciate this book. Desowitz does a good job of including the necessary scientific information about the specific agents in a style that doesn't read like a textbook. He has really great examples that serve as case studies as to how history, scientific knowledge, and public health reality contribute to the successes and more often failures of public health campaigns.
December 2, 2012
I enjoyed this book although I'm not a huge fan of reading about disgusting and weird parasites. I had to read this for a class so it's not something that I would read normally. Desowitz put a good amount of humor in his stories which I liked. I also enjoyed that he paid attention to the cultural aspects of parasite problems--like a true anthropologist. Would recommend to anyone interested in parasites or disease/sickness in culture.
March 17, 2016
Great read with interesting stories on how parasites interact with the people and world around us. Especially "funny" how we don't account the environment, cultural difference and just hubris when we try to eradicate them.
Of note, there's a lot of typos and formatting errors in the Kindle version of this book. It looks like it wasn't transcribed correctly or it was put through a bad OCR scanner. Kind of annoying and distracts from the overall enjoyment of the book.
Of note, there's a lot of typos and formatting errors in the Kindle version of this book. It looks like it wasn't transcribed correctly or it was put through a bad OCR scanner. Kind of annoying and distracts from the overall enjoyment of the book.
January 8, 2014
Interesting book loaned to me by Jesse. Parasites, how they affect people and how people affect them. Intriguing stories of "disasters of good intention". Everyone needs to know what giardia looks like under a microscope! This author uses words I have never heard. (uxorious?! ) I like it when I have to look things up.
May 19, 2008
Isn't this a great title? It's an excellent little book of essays having to do with parasitology...specifically malaria, trypanosomes, schistosoma, giardia lamblia...plus an entertaining chapter on one's fecal habits. A most entertaining and informative volume.
December 21, 2007
Infectious diseases are terrible, but create pretty incredible stories.
best-titles-ever
February 22, 2008Someone didn't like chicken soup and brisket, apparently.
August 19, 2008
Very interesting and a bit funny at times.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews