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The Desperate Hours: One Hospital's Fight to Save a City on the Pandemic's Front Lines
A remarkable depiction of a city in crisis – based on new, behind-the-scenes reporting – that captures the resilience, peril, and compassion of the early days of the Covid pandemic
In the spring of 2020, COVID-19 arrived in New York City.
Before long, America’s largest metropolis was at war against a virus that mercilessly swept through its five boroughs. It became apparent that if Covid wasn’t somehow halted, the death count in New York alone would be in the hundreds of thousands. And if New York’s hospitals failed, what chance did the rest of the country have?
In The Desperate Hours, award-winning journalist Marie Brenner, having been granted unprecedented 18-month access to the entire New York-Presbyterian hospital system, tells the story of the doctors, nurses, residents, researchers, and suppliers who tried to save lives across Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn and the northern periphery of the city. Drawing on more than 200 interviews, Brenner takes us inside secure ICU units, sealed operating rooms, locked executive suites, unknown basement workshops, and makeshift clinics to provide extraordinary witness to the war as it was waged on the front line. But The Desperate Hours is more than a thrilling account of medicine under extreme pressure. It is an intimate portrait of courageous men and women coming together in their devotion to duty, their families, each other, and the city they loved more than any other.
In the spring of 2020, COVID-19 arrived in New York City.
Before long, America’s largest metropolis was at war against a virus that mercilessly swept through its five boroughs. It became apparent that if Covid wasn’t somehow halted, the death count in New York alone would be in the hundreds of thousands. And if New York’s hospitals failed, what chance did the rest of the country have?
In The Desperate Hours, award-winning journalist Marie Brenner, having been granted unprecedented 18-month access to the entire New York-Presbyterian hospital system, tells the story of the doctors, nurses, residents, researchers, and suppliers who tried to save lives across Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn and the northern periphery of the city. Drawing on more than 200 interviews, Brenner takes us inside secure ICU units, sealed operating rooms, locked executive suites, unknown basement workshops, and makeshift clinics to provide extraordinary witness to the war as it was waged on the front line. But The Desperate Hours is more than a thrilling account of medicine under extreme pressure. It is an intimate portrait of courageous men and women coming together in their devotion to duty, their families, each other, and the city they loved more than any other.
496 pages, Hardcover
First published June 21, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
January 4, 2023
“What’s true of all the evils of the world, is true of the plague as well”
Albert Camus
So, it begins, a virus that started in Whuhan, China quickly travels all around the world. This book focuses on NY Presbyterian Hospital system and how the Corona Virus was dealt with in the early days in New York when no one would even identify this as a pandemic and little was known about the virus.
Very well researched. It was a terrifying atmosphere. Hardly anything was known about this virus. Since the focus is on NY Presbyterian, it is worth noting this hospital is part of Cornell and that is where the flagship hospital is, on the Upper East Side. Most of the discussions come from the ICU Unit on 5 South at this hospital. NYP also merged with Columbia, so there is a hospital and research center from that University further uptown. Then there are 8 other hospitals throughout NYC.
The dynamics of highly competitive and intelligent individuals associated with Cornell or Columbia, right away can see how all would not always run smoothly. The doctors, nurses, and additional staff are under extreme pressure and work to exhaustion. This puts everyone on edge. There is hardly any Federal Oversight and I was Unaware that Governor Cuomo ruled with such a heavy hand. Staff was expected to keep quiet both for the hospital and fear of retribution from Cuomo.
The most impactful part was reading about the way doctors and nurses had to use any method to secure supplies, almost nothing was known so doctors would try all sorts of different treatment without any certainty it would help the patient, the incredible strain of having the hospital maxed out and not having room to put very sick patients, and even with all these efforts still many people were dying every single day. The staff often had to be isolated from their families for safety and were scared of getting ill with Covid themselves. Considering what each person was dealing with, a very good job was done. Yet, as a country we became divided and our ability to plan a response for such a huge Pandemic was extremely challenging. NYC is an area that is crowded into a relatively small area. It also attracts people from all different parts of the world and prioritizing treating the sickest patients wasn’t always done. Care, at the wealthy Upper East Side Hospital was substantially better then at the hospital at Manhattan’s lower district, near where the 9/11 Tower Attacks occurred. Here, there was a much higher concentration of Asian individuals from China Town, poorer people without insurance, and the nurses were caring for many more patients at once. Fairness to all, rarely works out that way.
I did enjoy Reading the book and listening to this on Audio 🎧. It was chilling to go back to such a devastating time and realize the strain that workers were under and how scared patients and their families were. It was thought that once a vaccine became available, that the pandemic would end. We now know that is untrue. We need to figure this disease out better and come to a point that we trust each other again and the institutions working to help. The Scientific Fact is people rarely die of Covid now if they have been vaccinated. Getting this message out is so important.
I gave the book 4 🌟 because I felt it was difficult to keep up with all the staff. So, many people were mentioned it was often hard to remember who they were. Also, this was a book based on the Pandemic’s start in the United States. I think more information needed to be provided about the role President Trump, Governor Cuomo, and Mayor De Blasio played in the Pandemic. This would have given more context to the book. Overall, great book though. I learned so much information and feel for all the staff working so hard to help and thank them for their extraordinary effort. I was so taken in by the patients, so sick and having to be alone and unable to be with family. I mourn that over 1 million people have died from Covid Virus in the US. I also need to remember that this is a Global Pandemic and honor all those who have been so severely effected by this virus.
Albert Camus
So, it begins, a virus that started in Whuhan, China quickly travels all around the world. This book focuses on NY Presbyterian Hospital system and how the Corona Virus was dealt with in the early days in New York when no one would even identify this as a pandemic and little was known about the virus.
Very well researched. It was a terrifying atmosphere. Hardly anything was known about this virus. Since the focus is on NY Presbyterian, it is worth noting this hospital is part of Cornell and that is where the flagship hospital is, on the Upper East Side. Most of the discussions come from the ICU Unit on 5 South at this hospital. NYP also merged with Columbia, so there is a hospital and research center from that University further uptown. Then there are 8 other hospitals throughout NYC.
The dynamics of highly competitive and intelligent individuals associated with Cornell or Columbia, right away can see how all would not always run smoothly. The doctors, nurses, and additional staff are under extreme pressure and work to exhaustion. This puts everyone on edge. There is hardly any Federal Oversight and I was Unaware that Governor Cuomo ruled with such a heavy hand. Staff was expected to keep quiet both for the hospital and fear of retribution from Cuomo.
The most impactful part was reading about the way doctors and nurses had to use any method to secure supplies, almost nothing was known so doctors would try all sorts of different treatment without any certainty it would help the patient, the incredible strain of having the hospital maxed out and not having room to put very sick patients, and even with all these efforts still many people were dying every single day. The staff often had to be isolated from their families for safety and were scared of getting ill with Covid themselves. Considering what each person was dealing with, a very good job was done. Yet, as a country we became divided and our ability to plan a response for such a huge Pandemic was extremely challenging. NYC is an area that is crowded into a relatively small area. It also attracts people from all different parts of the world and prioritizing treating the sickest patients wasn’t always done. Care, at the wealthy Upper East Side Hospital was substantially better then at the hospital at Manhattan’s lower district, near where the 9/11 Tower Attacks occurred. Here, there was a much higher concentration of Asian individuals from China Town, poorer people without insurance, and the nurses were caring for many more patients at once. Fairness to all, rarely works out that way.
I did enjoy Reading the book and listening to this on Audio 🎧. It was chilling to go back to such a devastating time and realize the strain that workers were under and how scared patients and their families were. It was thought that once a vaccine became available, that the pandemic would end. We now know that is untrue. We need to figure this disease out better and come to a point that we trust each other again and the institutions working to help. The Scientific Fact is people rarely die of Covid now if they have been vaccinated. Getting this message out is so important.
I gave the book 4 🌟 because I felt it was difficult to keep up with all the staff. So, many people were mentioned it was often hard to remember who they were. Also, this was a book based on the Pandemic’s start in the United States. I think more information needed to be provided about the role President Trump, Governor Cuomo, and Mayor De Blasio played in the Pandemic. This would have given more context to the book. Overall, great book though. I learned so much information and feel for all the staff working so hard to help and thank them for their extraordinary effort. I was so taken in by the patients, so sick and having to be alone and unable to be with family. I mourn that over 1 million people have died from Covid Virus in the US. I also need to remember that this is a Global Pandemic and honor all those who have been so severely effected by this virus.
July 24, 2022
Informationally I give this book a 5, but it needed some editing, badly. Just too much overlap and it threw too many characters at you. Worth the read but there were several times where I wasn't sure I'd finish. Although it stepped outside the hospital system several times to appropriately take on Trump, Cuomo and DiBlasio it could have used a bit more of the relationship between government and the hospital system. Still I am glad I read it because it put the medical piece of 2020 in a historical context.
July 18, 2022
This stunning account of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City is utterly jaw dropping. The situation in New York is described as an almost war- zone like situation between the researches/first responders and the government officials playing down the pandemic’s severity to win votes.
Many of us watching the news during the pandemic remember President Trump alongside Drs Fauci and Birx downplaying the seriousness of the Covid-19 pandemic. We were told not to wear masks, that only a few U.S. citizens had been diagnosed and that this will be eradicated by Easter. While, in other news, we were shown refrigerated mobile morgues along with rising numbers of cases, hospitalizations and deaths. The world shut down as hospitals became overloaded with patients and limited staff.
This book, comprised of 18 months of research and interviews, tells the scary reality of a pandemic’s effect and the efforts to stop it amongst great controversy. It covers the lack of availability of testing, the strain on healthcare workers and the stepping up of several employees working out of class to do whatever job needed to be done in this unprecedented time.
While listening to this book, I truly felt like I was experiencing the beginning of the pandemic again. The uneasiness, the unknown, the quickly rising cases, and the never before seen shut down of the global economy. These accounts were so vivid and alive.
We owe our lives to all of those people that stepped up, watched unbelievable and never before seen numbers of death, and sacrificed their life and time with their families to get this under control for the rest of us.
Many of us watching the news during the pandemic remember President Trump alongside Drs Fauci and Birx downplaying the seriousness of the Covid-19 pandemic. We were told not to wear masks, that only a few U.S. citizens had been diagnosed and that this will be eradicated by Easter. While, in other news, we were shown refrigerated mobile morgues along with rising numbers of cases, hospitalizations and deaths. The world shut down as hospitals became overloaded with patients and limited staff.
This book, comprised of 18 months of research and interviews, tells the scary reality of a pandemic’s effect and the efforts to stop it amongst great controversy. It covers the lack of availability of testing, the strain on healthcare workers and the stepping up of several employees working out of class to do whatever job needed to be done in this unprecedented time.
While listening to this book, I truly felt like I was experiencing the beginning of the pandemic again. The uneasiness, the unknown, the quickly rising cases, and the never before seen shut down of the global economy. These accounts were so vivid and alive.
We owe our lives to all of those people that stepped up, watched unbelievable and never before seen numbers of death, and sacrificed their life and time with their families to get this under control for the rest of us.
November 17, 2025
Marie Brenner, a NYC journalist, was given access to the entire New York-Presbyterian hospital system, near the end of the Pandemic. The story she writes is not, in its entirety, based on the sick and dying. Instead, she delves deep into the Administration of the hospitals, the absurd political choices and how these two chains of command sorely affected the doctors, scientists, and all others who were putting their lives on the line to save New York City and the world.
Brenner's writing is superb; however, I think the editing failed her a bit. There are too many repeats and having them cut out would have made the book a bit stronger and a lot shorter.
That being said, it is a terrific dive into the politics of a city and state, the needless regulations and rules that should have been pushed aside so that people could be saved.
Brenner's writing is superb; however, I think the editing failed her a bit. There are too many repeats and having them cut out would have made the book a bit stronger and a lot shorter.
That being said, it is a terrific dive into the politics of a city and state, the needless regulations and rules that should have been pushed aside so that people could be saved.
August 7, 2022
This is a fascinating and important book, which tells the harsh reality of one NY hospital system as its people struggle through the pandemic’s early peak.
My rating - only three stars - is based on my opinion that this read desperately, desperately needed a better editor. It reads like an undergraduate’s first rough draft. There is way too much detail in some cases, often redundant. And while here’s no clear thesis to the writing, which may be appropriate to the piece as reportage, it could have done with better context.
A big problem for me was lack of clarity in telling the story. Paragraphs about one individual quickly morph into stories about another. It’s klutzy at best, confusing at worst.
Last, it should have ended with a statistical summary of the event, either in the text or an appendix. To dive in to so much detail without reporting basic facts (admissions, deaths, intubations, etc) is a glaring error.
All that said I strongly recommend this important work.
My rating - only three stars - is based on my opinion that this read desperately, desperately needed a better editor. It reads like an undergraduate’s first rough draft. There is way too much detail in some cases, often redundant. And while here’s no clear thesis to the writing, which may be appropriate to the piece as reportage, it could have done with better context.
A big problem for me was lack of clarity in telling the story. Paragraphs about one individual quickly morph into stories about another. It’s klutzy at best, confusing at worst.
Last, it should have ended with a statistical summary of the event, either in the text or an appendix. To dive in to so much detail without reporting basic facts (admissions, deaths, intubations, etc) is a glaring error.
All that said I strongly recommend this important work.
October 5, 2022
This book is the story of New York Presbyterian Cornell Hospital (NYP) during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The author got unprecedented access to interview dozens if not more of hospital staff from the corporate suites to the front-line ICU workers. She even got permission to tell some patient stories.
I did not live in NYC during the pandemic so the details of NYP's facilities and campuses would not be as familiar to as a NYC resident.
Of course, one would want to give 5 stars to a book that describes the endeavors of true heroes; who gave it all in shift-after-shift when there was no treatment available to relieve the suffering of so many patients - and where many of the staff fell ill themselves, sometimes dying.
But - the book attempts to tell too many stories with too many characters. The author insists upon giving the back story to each NYP practitioner/worker/modeler, executive, ... - where they came from, how they rose to their position against obstacles, etc. While humanizing everyone, the narrative bogs down at times.
The book needs a "tick-tock" style - each chapter with a subheading of Day x, Cases to date, Deaths to date.
The story inherently has no victory -- a lot of people got sick, a lot of people died, the initial wave crested due to various factors, including lockdowns. There were countless stories of tragedy and, surprisingly, triumph against the odds which will bring a tear to your eye.
It is also a story where the corporate side of NYP battled with the medicine side over supplies, staffing, and messaging. An intense fear of being sued led the corporate comms shop squelching physicians from telling it like it was to the public (although there were "leaks"). And that wasn't the only battle fought by NYP - they were stymied by the NYC Department of Health and by the state (Albany) Department of Health. Cuomo (Albany) didn't want NYC (de Blasio) to get any credit. McKinsey, who advised the state comes out badly in the story.
And then, there was the White House, which makes cameo appearances when they did or said something the author felt was idiotic (Trump and ingesting bleach was one example).
When you finish the book, there's nothing to give you hope that NYP would be more prepared for the next pandemic -- the organization rose to the challenge not as one, but with many different trajectories. NYP had 40,000+ staff with deep organizational hierarchies. People burned out, had PTSD, even committed suicide. But, thankfully, after 2 months, the first wave ended and the organization got more efficient at handling the crisis.
If you have friends or family who worked at NYP in 2020, this book may put their experiences into a bigger perspective. It is a worthwhile read but, not as compelling as Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital which worked better as it had tighter focus.
I read it in 3 days. No photos (surprising given the character-driven story; not even pictures of the hospitals)
I did not live in NYC during the pandemic so the details of NYP's facilities and campuses would not be as familiar to as a NYC resident.
Of course, one would want to give 5 stars to a book that describes the endeavors of true heroes; who gave it all in shift-after-shift when there was no treatment available to relieve the suffering of so many patients - and where many of the staff fell ill themselves, sometimes dying.
But - the book attempts to tell too many stories with too many characters. The author insists upon giving the back story to each NYP practitioner/worker/modeler, executive, ... - where they came from, how they rose to their position against obstacles, etc. While humanizing everyone, the narrative bogs down at times.
The book needs a "tick-tock" style - each chapter with a subheading of Day x, Cases to date, Deaths to date.
The story inherently has no victory -- a lot of people got sick, a lot of people died, the initial wave crested due to various factors, including lockdowns. There were countless stories of tragedy and, surprisingly, triumph against the odds which will bring a tear to your eye.
It is also a story where the corporate side of NYP battled with the medicine side over supplies, staffing, and messaging. An intense fear of being sued led the corporate comms shop squelching physicians from telling it like it was to the public (although there were "leaks"). And that wasn't the only battle fought by NYP - they were stymied by the NYC Department of Health and by the state (Albany) Department of Health. Cuomo (Albany) didn't want NYC (de Blasio) to get any credit. McKinsey, who advised the state comes out badly in the story.
And then, there was the White House, which makes cameo appearances when they did or said something the author felt was idiotic (Trump and ingesting bleach was one example).
When you finish the book, there's nothing to give you hope that NYP would be more prepared for the next pandemic -- the organization rose to the challenge not as one, but with many different trajectories. NYP had 40,000+ staff with deep organizational hierarchies. People burned out, had PTSD, even committed suicide. But, thankfully, after 2 months, the first wave ended and the organization got more efficient at handling the crisis.
If you have friends or family who worked at NYP in 2020, this book may put their experiences into a bigger perspective. It is a worthwhile read but, not as compelling as Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital which worked better as it had tighter focus.
I read it in 3 days. No photos (surprising given the character-driven story; not even pictures of the hospitals)
October 30, 2022
We all remember the desperate hours in New York City; the makeshift morgues, the hospital ship standing by, the outpouring of gratitude for health care workers every evening with a pots and pans tribute, and the fear. Healthcare workers survived the worst of it, by far. The New York Presbyterian chain is the largest health care facility in New York. Despite early warnings member hospitals were blindsided when the pandemic exploded in their city.
Several things immediately went wrong. None of them could be locally remedied. First, the Trump administration refused a World Health Organization offer of testing kits. Secondly, hospitals did not have nearly enough personal protective gear on hand. And finally, the Center for Disease Control bureaucracy initially limited the availability of testing. These blunders cost many lives.
A historic moment in history, full of pathos and loss is sketched. The book evokes very little of that emotion. Vignettes featuring administrative, government, and medical staff seem disjointed. Interviews with corporate and medical staff left me wondering what the everyday lives of nurses and other frontline workers were like during those difficult days. How did they and their families cope? I craved a street level view, not a view from the corporate suite.
The author's words don't provide an intimate, authentic window into those frenzied, heroic hours.
Several things immediately went wrong. None of them could be locally remedied. First, the Trump administration refused a World Health Organization offer of testing kits. Secondly, hospitals did not have nearly enough personal protective gear on hand. And finally, the Center for Disease Control bureaucracy initially limited the availability of testing. These blunders cost many lives.
A historic moment in history, full of pathos and loss is sketched. The book evokes very little of that emotion. Vignettes featuring administrative, government, and medical staff seem disjointed. Interviews with corporate and medical staff left me wondering what the everyday lives of nurses and other frontline workers were like during those difficult days. How did they and their families cope? I craved a street level view, not a view from the corporate suite.
The author's words don't provide an intimate, authentic window into those frenzied, heroic hours.
August 8, 2022
Brenner looks at the beginning of the COVID pandemic through the eyes of doctors, nurses, administrators and more at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospitals in New York City. I live almost across the street from New York-Presbyterian and so I had a special interest in this well-researched, well-written, totally immersive book. Brenner puts the reader right in the midst of the hospital where decisions are being made quickly without much information available about COVID. What impresses me most is the dedication of doctors, nurses, aides and maintenance staff who showed compassion and courage in dealing with so many people who were dying around them. It reminded me of Sheri Fink's Five Days At Memorial, about a hospital caught up in Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. The Desperate Hours is destined to go down as one of the most important books written about COVID. It will be one of my Most Compelling Books of 2022.
July 30, 2022
This is an in-depth and wide-ranging look at the ravages of COVID in NYC hospitals in the early days of the pandemic in early 2020. The author seems to have interviewed every significant person and many insignificant people at every level of the hospital structure. There are heroes and villains but mostly just normal people doing the best they could in unprecedented circumstances for which no one was prepared. We got to know people who died and people who seemed certain to die but then pulled through at the last minute. This book brought back all the horror and terror of those early days. I can’t even imagine what it must have been like for those on the front lines.
July 17, 2022
This is a pretty stunning, hard-hitting look at the impact of Covid on the largest New York City hospital system during the initial wave of the pandemic. The astonishing efforts of healthcare workers and the immense toll it takes on them. Also detailed the efforts of support staff to keep reconfiguring hospitals to add icu beds and to obtain supplies - they were all soldiers in an overwhelming battle.
July 24, 2022
If anybody was visiting New York in January or February of 2020, they have likely thought about how close they came to the arrival of COVID-19. The museums were great, the shows were wonderful, and the crowds were even pleasant. …and then the plague showed up.
Marie Brenner has written a book that moves from the pre-pandemic time to the arrival and unfolding of CO:VID-19 in New York, from the perspective of the New York Presbyterian Healthcare system, including its top managers, star physicians, nurses, and staff. I have trouble imagining how she got the access to do this, but the book is the result of over 200 individual interviews, the review of lots of documentation, and a thorough familiarity with media accounts of COVID-19 journey into New York. I do not need to worry about spoilers, since much if not all of this was covered on local and national media on a 24/7 basis, Putting everything together to add a storytelling dimension adds to the impact of the pandemic, even if you have followed it all along.
The story as told here ends with the arrival of the vaccine in December 2020. That is a good a time as any to stop, although there was well over a year to go before the pandemic started to move in the direction of being endemic, a process that continues today. The book is easily read and flows nicely. There are no illustrations, but a cast list of characters is provided, most of whom can be easily tracked down on the web.
When I started the book, I was concerned about perspective -a reasonable concern given the combination of visibility and sensitivity for the effects of COVID-19 on the NYP system. It is often wise to be skeptical of “official” histories. That was not a problem here, at least to me, and I thought the book was balanced in considering all the steps and missteps in responding to a pandemic larger than anyone in the US has encountered sinc 1918. The author also displays a good sense of the complexity of organizational life in such a huge health care institution, especially under great stress.
COVID-19 has been the most written about medical event ever, with nonstop media coverage, huge data dumps on the internet, and literally thousands of scholarly papers published and accessible over the web. Within the past few months, more general accounts of the pandemic, the development of vaccines, and other parts of this crisis have started to come out. I suspect that this process will continue to develop. “The Desperate Hours” is a welcome addition to this emerging literature.
Marie Brenner has written a book that moves from the pre-pandemic time to the arrival and unfolding of CO:VID-19 in New York, from the perspective of the New York Presbyterian Healthcare system, including its top managers, star physicians, nurses, and staff. I have trouble imagining how she got the access to do this, but the book is the result of over 200 individual interviews, the review of lots of documentation, and a thorough familiarity with media accounts of COVID-19 journey into New York. I do not need to worry about spoilers, since much if not all of this was covered on local and national media on a 24/7 basis, Putting everything together to add a storytelling dimension adds to the impact of the pandemic, even if you have followed it all along.
The story as told here ends with the arrival of the vaccine in December 2020. That is a good a time as any to stop, although there was well over a year to go before the pandemic started to move in the direction of being endemic, a process that continues today. The book is easily read and flows nicely. There are no illustrations, but a cast list of characters is provided, most of whom can be easily tracked down on the web.
When I started the book, I was concerned about perspective -a reasonable concern given the combination of visibility and sensitivity for the effects of COVID-19 on the NYP system. It is often wise to be skeptical of “official” histories. That was not a problem here, at least to me, and I thought the book was balanced in considering all the steps and missteps in responding to a pandemic larger than anyone in the US has encountered sinc 1918. The author also displays a good sense of the complexity of organizational life in such a huge health care institution, especially under great stress.
COVID-19 has been the most written about medical event ever, with nonstop media coverage, huge data dumps on the internet, and literally thousands of scholarly papers published and accessible over the web. Within the past few months, more general accounts of the pandemic, the development of vaccines, and other parts of this crisis have started to come out. I suspect that this process will continue to develop. “The Desperate Hours” is a welcome addition to this emerging literature.
October 4, 2022
the numbers blur. the hospital logistics blur. what doesn't blur is the way brenner brought me instantly back to the fresh horror of early covid, attendance dropping precipitously at my seattle-area public high school as cases multiplied just a few miles from me, the death the death the death and suffering made real again. and i was just a high schooler at the time, my mom could work from home, i could do online learning, and yet i was terrified and i didn't even have to stare death in the face for hours every day.
a little under a year into the pandemic, i had a college interviewer tell me that if nursing was my calling, i had to answer. i may never comprehend what healthcare workers [like i will be in a few years] went through during those first months of hell. i have read so many fantasy books but here are heroes right here, in scrubs and lab coats. i am humbled. i am angry, too, all over again about trump-era covid misinformation and searing health disparities. i'm heartbroken, of course. i will be a nurse in a few years and i hope that i will have one iota of the bravery and selflessness of any of these people.
overall it's very removed journalism but the epilogue, the roll-out of the first vaccines and biden's inauguration and susie bibi dancing at her son's wedding, the palpable sense of hope: when the 2020 election was called for biden, i broke down crying in the middle of a public park. i got my first covid vaccine shot wearing my sister's old prom dress. heroes walk among us and maybe one day i'll be lucky enough to count myself along their colleagues
a little under a year into the pandemic, i had a college interviewer tell me that if nursing was my calling, i had to answer. i may never comprehend what healthcare workers [like i will be in a few years] went through during those first months of hell. i have read so many fantasy books but here are heroes right here, in scrubs and lab coats. i am humbled. i am angry, too, all over again about trump-era covid misinformation and searing health disparities. i'm heartbroken, of course. i will be a nurse in a few years and i hope that i will have one iota of the bravery and selflessness of any of these people.
overall it's very removed journalism but the epilogue, the roll-out of the first vaccines and biden's inauguration and susie bibi dancing at her son's wedding, the palpable sense of hope: when the 2020 election was called for biden, i broke down crying in the middle of a public park. i got my first covid vaccine shot wearing my sister's old prom dress. heroes walk among us and maybe one day i'll be lucky enough to count myself along their colleagues
July 7, 2022
Really solid and hard to read. Impossible not to compare this to FIVE DAYS AT MEMORIAL, and the writing isn’t that. But I really enjoyed this, despite the difficult subject matter.
October 9, 2022
Had some interesting information about what hospitals went through during the pandemic. There were a lot of characters to keep up with though, and each character came with way too much of a back story. There was a lot of jumping around in the time line: one paragraph is talking about 2001 or 2008 and then next paragraph is 2020. Lots of political undertones.
Had high hopes. But almost didn’t finish multiple times.
Had high hopes. But almost didn’t finish multiple times.
September 26, 2022
As an ICU nurse who actively worked the frontline of the COVID pandemic—putting more people in body bags than I ever had through my career—I could relate to so much content covered in this book; however, there were far too many characters to remember and the content would jump around in terms of a chronological timeline to other events that happened in the world at the time that didn’t pertain directly to the pandemic. Also, I would have liked more nurse POV than the doctors—as we were the ones standing next to the patients, holding their hands in their last moments—and holding the iPads up for the doctors to do their daily rounds from the comforts of their home offices. In addition, the miraculous recoveries covered in this book from wealthy surgeons and ED doctors to an influential jewelers wife in the Jewish community who were all given preferential care and sent to state of the art rehab clinics really highlighted the advantages the rich have when compared to the 28 year old IT guy who died in this book. Even in a pandemic that affected us all equally—it was the Privileged who prevailed, even in the stories told in this book.
For the most part I did like the book, but could have skipped over many parts to get the actual meat of the story.
For the most part I did like the book, but could have skipped over many parts to get the actual meat of the story.
July 28, 2025
Nope. Not reading 500 pages of this. I read a hundred poorly edited and poorly written pages and stopped. If you are looking for a book about what it was like in a hospital in NYC at the height of covid I suggest reading : Every Minute Is a Day: A Doctor, an Emergency Room, and a City Under Siegeby Robert Meyer. That is a well structured book. The reader sees the situation through the eyes of one doctor. There are other people introduced but it isn't too many to keep track of.
If you want to read a long-winded book about bureaucracy that introduces about 200 people in great detail, then this is the book for you. The only thing I got out of the innumerable backstories of everyone and I mean EVERYONE mentioned, is that all the doctors working at this hospital conglomerate are incredibly high achievers who have insane work ethics. I feel like such a slovenly loser in comparison.
I do want to read more about the Japanese surgeon who is a transplant superstar who regularly does 20+ hour complicated operations every week and runs marathons to 'relax'. He is super nice to supporting staff and patients. He seems very interesting. However, I"m supposed to be reading about covid in NYC in March & April of 2020. Not a book about liver transplants. This gives you an idea of all the sidebars and diverting plot points in the book.
I feel like Brenner was so grateful for getting interviews she decided to include every single fact she learned, whether it furthered the story of not. This book should be renamed The Boring Hours. Go read that other book by the Bronx doctor instead. You're welcome.
If you want to read a long-winded book about bureaucracy that introduces about 200 people in great detail, then this is the book for you. The only thing I got out of the innumerable backstories of everyone and I mean EVERYONE mentioned, is that all the doctors working at this hospital conglomerate are incredibly high achievers who have insane work ethics. I feel like such a slovenly loser in comparison.
I do want to read more about the Japanese surgeon who is a transplant superstar who regularly does 20+ hour complicated operations every week and runs marathons to 'relax'. He is super nice to supporting staff and patients. He seems very interesting. However, I"m supposed to be reading about covid in NYC in March & April of 2020. Not a book about liver transplants. This gives you an idea of all the sidebars and diverting plot points in the book.
I feel like Brenner was so grateful for getting interviews she decided to include every single fact she learned, whether it furthered the story of not. This book should be renamed The Boring Hours. Go read that other book by the Bronx doctor instead. You're welcome.
July 15, 2022
Interesting to read about something I experienced first hand and know the characters. Pretty accurate portrayal of what happened with some insight into the inner politics and the early days of the pandemic.
Didn’t need to be 400+ pages.
Didn’t need to be 400+ pages.
Read
January 12, 2025My initial reaction to this book was highly critical. When a journalist attempts to cover a topic or event that feels personal to you, it’s easy to be so. This story isn’t necessarily mine, but that of my mother, a nurse at New York Presbyterian who worked through the extent of pandemic. In covering a narrative so large and multifaceted as the ongoings of a hospital during the pandemic, I was worried the nuance would be lost. My mother is certainly a hero for the many lives she helped save, but recalling what that time was really like, she wasn’t stoic about it. She was terrified, working endless hours against an endless tide of patients. She did her job as she was expected, but what was expected was not enough; many lives were lost regardless. Among these lives were her very coworkers and, being an immuno-compromised diabetic herself, she was scared for her own. In telling this story, I was afraid stories like my mother’s would be lost in Brenner’s narrative, but I found, through her wide-ranging scope of interviewees, from nurses to surgeons to CEOs, her’s was appropriately told. The story I didn’t know was that of the NYP higher-ups, the decisions they needed to make despite their relative safety from the horrors of the ground work. NYP is purported to be the best hospital system in New York City, and therefore, if you are to buy into the elitism that surrounds the city, the best in the world. But despite this back-patting, like every other system, NYP was horribly unprepared for a major pandemic. Not just in terms of available resources or labor, but also, protocol. Doctors and admins were forced to make split decisions themselves, to think on the fly, since their bosses were unable to provide concrete answers in a timely fashion. And at the very top, bureaucracy and financial concerns slowed decision making. These concerned people’s very lives, and the casualties were high. Against the speed and aggression of the virus, coupled with the politicization of the pandemic, it felt at times they were fighting a losing battle. My biggest takeaway from the pandemic was that of extreme cynicism. I felt that COVID pulled down the curtain on our ability to react to a crisis. It’s easy to look for people to blame, and, of course, there are people to blame. But even our supposedly best, most skilled, competent specialists working tirelessly, they are only human and nature has proven herself time and again to be the most powerful force on this planet. If we are unable to appropriately address a crisis so clear and impossible to ignore like COVID, what hope do we have to address climate change or any other? Are we simply doomed to fail, or is it a naive exercise to try to be better? Despite it all, I’m doubtful we’ve learned many lessons from the pandemic and don’t believe we are prepared for the next one.
March 18, 2023
Masterful!
Having lived through a severe case of covid and pneumonia myself which led to hypoxia, acute respiratory failure, kidney injury brought on by covid and hospitalization, I have only recently begun to feel solid enough to be able to read about others ordeals. While searching for suggestions, this book seemed highly recommended. Now, I can see why!
Marie Brenner is a phenomenal researcher and writer as well as a sensitive interviewer. I was concerned about HIPPAA and realized early on I needn't have been because any author/reporter with experience that cares about their reputation and isn't fond of litigation isn't going to violate HIPPAA laws. The author is very careful to avoid that important issue and any question of ethical behavior.
I am impressed with the amount of work and time it must have taken to: get permission to do the interviews, cover the legalities, come up with what one needed or wanted to know, what messages needed to be conveyed, speak to certain patients or providers families, document everything, transcribe it and probably a hundred other tasks yet in the end have such a well written and seamless account of it all. And we aren't talking about a small city or a single community hospital but a world renowned medical institution with a solid reputation of excellence!
In some ways, the fear and severe stress of early covid seems like it happened just recently and in others, it feels like it was a significant while ago. Did we REALLY live through that? Do we remember those many weeks and months of isolation, businesses temporarily closed, theaters dark, being afraid to hug a friend or family member, lining up in masks and standing 6 ft or more apart outside grocery stores, shortages of toilet paper, pasta, masks, cleaning fluid, hand sanitizer, wipes, and other essentials? Being out of the office for months on end? Trying to explain to our children why they aren't in school with their friends? Do we WANT to remember? I say we MUST because to forget or ignore does a disservice to those that died and those of us who lived through it. It also pretty much guarantees an even worse outcome next time and it is a "slap in the face" to all those medical professionals who put their lives on the line for months on end to help us!
I thought I had a good sense of what the impact was like on all those medical professionals that stepped up and went above and beyond for us but really, I had no idea how intense it was, the situations they faced, the tears shed, decisions made, the trauma, tragedies and triumphs -- until I read this book!
Having lived through a severe case of covid and pneumonia myself which led to hypoxia, acute respiratory failure, kidney injury brought on by covid and hospitalization, I have only recently begun to feel solid enough to be able to read about others ordeals. While searching for suggestions, this book seemed highly recommended. Now, I can see why!
Marie Brenner is a phenomenal researcher and writer as well as a sensitive interviewer. I was concerned about HIPPAA and realized early on I needn't have been because any author/reporter with experience that cares about their reputation and isn't fond of litigation isn't going to violate HIPPAA laws. The author is very careful to avoid that important issue and any question of ethical behavior.
I am impressed with the amount of work and time it must have taken to: get permission to do the interviews, cover the legalities, come up with what one needed or wanted to know, what messages needed to be conveyed, speak to certain patients or providers families, document everything, transcribe it and probably a hundred other tasks yet in the end have such a well written and seamless account of it all. And we aren't talking about a small city or a single community hospital but a world renowned medical institution with a solid reputation of excellence!
In some ways, the fear and severe stress of early covid seems like it happened just recently and in others, it feels like it was a significant while ago. Did we REALLY live through that? Do we remember those many weeks and months of isolation, businesses temporarily closed, theaters dark, being afraid to hug a friend or family member, lining up in masks and standing 6 ft or more apart outside grocery stores, shortages of toilet paper, pasta, masks, cleaning fluid, hand sanitizer, wipes, and other essentials? Being out of the office for months on end? Trying to explain to our children why they aren't in school with their friends? Do we WANT to remember? I say we MUST because to forget or ignore does a disservice to those that died and those of us who lived through it. It also pretty much guarantees an even worse outcome next time and it is a "slap in the face" to all those medical professionals who put their lives on the line for months on end to help us!
I thought I had a good sense of what the impact was like on all those medical professionals that stepped up and went above and beyond for us but really, I had no idea how intense it was, the situations they faced, the tears shed, decisions made, the trauma, tragedies and triumphs -- until I read this book!
November 26, 2022
A remarkably detailed book telling the story of one group of hospitals in NYC during the pandemic year 2020. Quite overwhelming to read how the New York Presbyterian hospitals (9 member hospitals) coped with the Coronavirus. This story puts names and backgrounds to the doctors, nurses, administrators on the front lines in the fight that took so many lives. The stories of patients who died, and the survivors broke my heart to read about.
It took a lot to revisit the events of that year when the presidential administration pitted states against states to find the equipment and PPE needed to confront the invisible foe. To say nothing of how he forced those governors in Blue states to come to DC and beg for supplies. We must never forget how incompetent the former president was during our national crisis, and how he made not performing simple measures to 'flatten the curve" measures of loyalty, as though a virus could distinguish one's party affiliation.
"By the end of March (2020), the hospital had twenty-five hundred cases and not enough ICU doctors and nurses. That August afternoon in the garden, Corwin (President and CEO of the Presbyterian group) shared details of what he had seen: the two thousand doctors who volunteered to fan out through the hospital to help; how employees looked when they saw morgue trucks being loaded. In late March, Hilary Shaw, who was responsible for converting the gleaming York Avenue Koch Center into more ICU space, walked down the hall and passed a transporter bringing out another one of the dead; she broke down sobbing. Rick Evans, the head of patient services, had trained to be a priest and had been in a small NJ hospital during 9/11 when bodies were ferried across the water. In lake March, he was drawn to the hospital's driveway, where he stood not far from the morgue truck, his head bowed in silent tribute, as body after body of the dead arrived. All of these stories Corwin had heard and was trying to process. He was also grappling with the fact that no city, state, or federal government had displayed anything resembling leadership."
So ,many mis-steps in our dealing with Covid. I hope we have learned lessons that we will uses in our next crisis.
It took a lot to revisit the events of that year when the presidential administration pitted states against states to find the equipment and PPE needed to confront the invisible foe. To say nothing of how he forced those governors in Blue states to come to DC and beg for supplies. We must never forget how incompetent the former president was during our national crisis, and how he made not performing simple measures to 'flatten the curve" measures of loyalty, as though a virus could distinguish one's party affiliation.
"By the end of March (2020), the hospital had twenty-five hundred cases and not enough ICU doctors and nurses. That August afternoon in the garden, Corwin (President and CEO of the Presbyterian group) shared details of what he had seen: the two thousand doctors who volunteered to fan out through the hospital to help; how employees looked when they saw morgue trucks being loaded. In late March, Hilary Shaw, who was responsible for converting the gleaming York Avenue Koch Center into more ICU space, walked down the hall and passed a transporter bringing out another one of the dead; she broke down sobbing. Rick Evans, the head of patient services, had trained to be a priest and had been in a small NJ hospital during 9/11 when bodies were ferried across the water. In lake March, he was drawn to the hospital's driveway, where he stood not far from the morgue truck, his head bowed in silent tribute, as body after body of the dead arrived. All of these stories Corwin had heard and was trying to process. He was also grappling with the fact that no city, state, or federal government had displayed anything resembling leadership."
So ,many mis-steps in our dealing with Covid. I hope we have learned lessons that we will uses in our next crisis.
November 4, 2022
Utterly gripping book. I originally saw it in an independent bookstore I frequent and made a note to get from my local library. Picked it up and could not put it down. Read it in two days. It’s a story about two different hospital systems in New York City, its doctors, nurses, and other staff, their patients, the administrators of the systems, and the state and federal bureaucracy which they had to contend with in 2020 literally on the front lines of battling COVID-19. The journalist was given access significant access to the hospital system which, as she notes, conflicted with the system’s HR administration and, notably, its corporate communications who often restricted its professionals from interviews and publishing op-eds in an official manner.
Though the comparison is not the same, of course, I found myself thinking of my experience as a higher education administrator during this same time period (a book could be focused on the higher ed sector, in my opinion).
Completely impressed by the absolute ingenuity of many people, from doctors to nurses to engineering students who were pressed into action in something not unlike the Apollo 13 experience - the infamous “failure is not an option” - often making decisions on the fly, with experimentation and taking a risk often needed.
Also fascinating to me is how statistics and statistical analyses are interpreted/misinterpreted within a political and bureaucratic context.
Highly recommended.
Though the comparison is not the same, of course, I found myself thinking of my experience as a higher education administrator during this same time period (a book could be focused on the higher ed sector, in my opinion).
Completely impressed by the absolute ingenuity of many people, from doctors to nurses to engineering students who were pressed into action in something not unlike the Apollo 13 experience - the infamous “failure is not an option” - often making decisions on the fly, with experimentation and taking a risk often needed.
Also fascinating to me is how statistics and statistical analyses are interpreted/misinterpreted within a political and bureaucratic context.
Highly recommended.
October 9, 2024
I think this book might be a great example of breadth, not depth. The volume of interviews and anecdotes jumped from topic to topic with tenuous connections, at best. I picked up this book hoping to read interviews/stories touching on the human element, or maybe even a deep dive into necessary topics such as the breakdown of the medical supplies supply chain at the height of the pandemic; instead, Brenner seems to want to summarize the entire Covid pandemic from all aspects in one large tome. Hint: it's impossible.
There were just too many subjects covered here; this book needed trimming. Race disparities, Fauci, Ebola cases, medical supply shortages, the Black Liver Health Initiative, too many individuals to keep track of. Brenner doesn't give these individually fascinating topics due justice by skimming. The quality of the research and interviews was top notch, but I would have greatly preferred a laser-focused expose on medical supply waste or an attack on Big Pharma's monetization of vaccines or even a collection of interviews from one Covid wing's unit of nurses.
Being on the non-clinical side of working with Epic (EMR), I KNEW that Brenner spoke to medical staff at the first mention of "we're charting for reimbursement now, not for patient care ..." and also "so many boxes and pop-ups!!"
There were just too many subjects covered here; this book needed trimming. Race disparities, Fauci, Ebola cases, medical supply shortages, the Black Liver Health Initiative, too many individuals to keep track of. Brenner doesn't give these individually fascinating topics due justice by skimming. The quality of the research and interviews was top notch, but I would have greatly preferred a laser-focused expose on medical supply waste or an attack on Big Pharma's monetization of vaccines or even a collection of interviews from one Covid wing's unit of nurses.
Being on the non-clinical side of working with Epic (EMR), I KNEW that Brenner spoke to medical staff at the first mention of "we're charting for reimbursement now, not for patient care ..." and also "so many boxes and pop-ups!!"
May 4, 2023
Okay, so I didn't technically finish this book, but I'll still give it three stars.
This book took me a long time to get through. It's written by Marie Brenner, a journalist who interviewed and followed hundreds of employees at New York-Presbyterian hospital system during the pandemic.
If you thought the pandemic was bad, multiply that by about 10 and you may be getting somewhere. This book pulls no punches. Through the account of hundreds of nurses, hospital directors, epidemiologists and the occasional patient, this book paints an account of just how close we were to total medical system collapse in 2020, and how the backbreaking dedication of the new york medical workers was barely enough to prevent such a calamity.
Maybe I'll get around to finishing the book, but my main complaint is that the sheer amount of players and interviews in the book makes it almost impossible to follow. It's kind of like looking at a pointellism painting: each individual dot is confusing, but when you back up this book paints a horrifying picture of the early stages of the pandemic. I'm interested in trying out another book on the topic next
This book took me a long time to get through. It's written by Marie Brenner, a journalist who interviewed and followed hundreds of employees at New York-Presbyterian hospital system during the pandemic.
If you thought the pandemic was bad, multiply that by about 10 and you may be getting somewhere. This book pulls no punches. Through the account of hundreds of nurses, hospital directors, epidemiologists and the occasional patient, this book paints an account of just how close we were to total medical system collapse in 2020, and how the backbreaking dedication of the new york medical workers was barely enough to prevent such a calamity.
Maybe I'll get around to finishing the book, but my main complaint is that the sheer amount of players and interviews in the book makes it almost impossible to follow. It's kind of like looking at a pointellism painting: each individual dot is confusing, but when you back up this book paints a horrifying picture of the early stages of the pandemic. I'm interested in trying out another book on the topic next
April 2, 2023
Yes, this book really took me two months to read. As the real behind-the-scenes story of the Covid19 pandemic and how it was handled in one of the largest and most well-known hospital systems in the US, it was both fascinating and frustrating. So I read some, put it down, took time to absorb and appreciate what I read, and then eventually returned to reading. Some of what I learned was absolutely infuriating, and that required me to take a break. Some was heart-breaking and required a good cry. The medical miracles, while happy, also required a good cry. The sideline stories about Trump, Cuomo, Di Blaiso, RFK Jr., those made my blood boil.
This is a story about what happened when Covid hit NYC. But it didn’t just hit NYC, it hit everywhere. So to the medical professionals EVERYWHERE for their countless hours of patient care, their creative solutions for care, their care of patients and their families, their selflessness and more, I say “thank you”. That is surely inadequate, but it’s all I’ve got.
This is a story about what happened when Covid hit NYC. But it didn’t just hit NYC, it hit everywhere. So to the medical professionals EVERYWHERE for their countless hours of patient care, their creative solutions for care, their care of patients and their families, their selflessness and more, I say “thank you”. That is surely inadequate, but it’s all I’ve got.
March 26, 2024
Wow, just wow. What I never knew (because it never made the news) about the early months of the pandemic, as told by the people on the front lines, the workers at New York Presbyterian Hospitals. It was the hospital we saw on the news every night in 2020, the one with the overflowing morgue. It’s the story of those who gave their all to saving lives, despite losing many, during the early months of the COVID 19 pandemic, from March to December 2020. That time seems to me, almost forgotten now, after all we’ve been through. I hardly even hear about it anymore. Why is that? There were many people who knew it was coming, data researchers and epidemiologists. But no one in power would listen to them. The Desperate Hours was eye opening and gut wrenching. It’s not an easy read. But it’s worth it. Thank you Marie Brenner for telling the story, and for New York Presbyterian for letting it be told. This is a story that desperately needs to be told, and those who never listened need to listen and learn from it.
December 24, 2022
I actually listened to this book, but there wasn't any audio edition option to select. it is a really in depth view of the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in NY City- specifically within 1 of its major hospital systems. It's staggering to review after such a short time the chaos and detriment that ensued because of the lack of leadership on so many levels and the false leadership of others putting ego before public welfare. The trauma continues as people continue to get sick and die and healthcare workers rethink their chosen profession because corporate doesn't have their patients' or staff's best interest in mind- rather reputation and profit. It's sad how wealth and financial interests impact patient outcomes. From my overseas perspective, the crazy that was the first year of the pandemic is confirmed from reading this inside look at the multitude of problems and the few triumphs that will repeat if we don't learn from the lessons presented.
August 8, 2023
Some of the respiratory concepts needed to be flushed out. For instance, yes bipap would fix many clinical symptoms presented by Covid , but bipap is also incredibly dangerous, more dangerous than a ventilator even, especially when it comes to training staff on proper use.
An additional chapter that talked about single vs dual limbed circuit would help if reprints are ever made.
A single limb circuit is a more economical option and may have made up a large part of the nationwide stockpile, but these devices inherently spread airborne pathogens, essentially by shooting it from an open air swivel exhalation valves.
Included in the missing protocols would be Humidification protocol & airborne pathogen protocol in terms of single, dual and thankfully never “quad” limbed ventilators. Pulmonary hygiene is a multidisciplinary topic, which respiratory therapy relies desperately on nursing collaboration. We all need to know more about the science of ventilator circuits.
An additional chapter that talked about single vs dual limbed circuit would help if reprints are ever made.
A single limb circuit is a more economical option and may have made up a large part of the nationwide stockpile, but these devices inherently spread airborne pathogens, essentially by shooting it from an open air swivel exhalation valves.
Included in the missing protocols would be Humidification protocol & airborne pathogen protocol in terms of single, dual and thankfully never “quad” limbed ventilators. Pulmonary hygiene is a multidisciplinary topic, which respiratory therapy relies desperately on nursing collaboration. We all need to know more about the science of ventilator circuits.
March 29, 2023
Alot of page filling
There was no cohesion here! I wish the author had not jumped around as much as she did. There was so much here and there that it was hard to keep up with who was who and what was the core matter of focus.
In addition, there was so much over explaining of a particular person's background that you almost lose interest in their current role. It's unfortunate because I feel like there was a truly deep and incredible story here that was lost in just a lot of page filling and ego inflating.
The book itself doesn't get interesting until about page 250, and there are some really touching stories in here that deserve more light. If you're truly interested in this book, I'd say go to your local bookstore and read the epilogue at the end. It sums up the entire book without you needing to purchase.
There was no cohesion here! I wish the author had not jumped around as much as she did. There was so much here and there that it was hard to keep up with who was who and what was the core matter of focus.
In addition, there was so much over explaining of a particular person's background that you almost lose interest in their current role. It's unfortunate because I feel like there was a truly deep and incredible story here that was lost in just a lot of page filling and ego inflating.
The book itself doesn't get interesting until about page 250, and there are some really touching stories in here that deserve more light. If you're truly interested in this book, I'd say go to your local bookstore and read the epilogue at the end. It sums up the entire book without you needing to purchase.
March 6, 2024
The stars in my review are for the level of reporting, because it was truly a feat. Unfortunately, the need to include so much discovered information made for an overly long book with too many individuals to keep straight despite the pages listing them in the front of the book. Nonetheless, it was an absorbing read and already felt like I was reading about an historical event just four years after it took place. I lived it, but had already forgotten so much. It was very interesting to see the level of decision-making and details that had to take place in this one hospital system. So not only was the amount of reporting impressive, so was the access that the author had. I would recommend, but it is likely for most to feel like a slog by the end. And it is easy to forget who is who and what has previously happened if the book is put down for even a day or two.
March 17, 2023
This is a book to be read - not to be listened to on audible. I was short on time and decided to listen to it in between and during my comings and goings, but that was not a good choice. There is such a long list of names and occupations that I found myself completely lost even going through it the second time. I'm not sure I was ready to delve even deeper into the COVID pandemic, but I appreciated the various stories of the health care workers and their dedication to the cause. I had no idea the extent of this virus's devastation in New York City. It's unfortunate that politics intervene and make a very awful situation so much worse. I would like to think we have learned a thing or two from going through the pandemic. It would be nice to think we will never have to go through another, but if we do, we can do better.
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