IQ 83

by Arthur Herzog III

YOU ARE DR. JAMES HEALEY AND LAST WEEK YOU WERE A GENIUS

That was before the DNA experiments. Before the accident you said could never happen...

Since then you have felt your mind decaying a little more each day. You have watched your wife slip into imbecility. You have seen the crowds growing murderous with animal terror, the President of the United States babbling and drooling on TV...

Only one thing separates you from them. You, at least, know what is happening as you search for the cure for the horror you have unleashed upon the world--as each day the dimming of your mind lowers your chance of finding it!

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook

306 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Arthur Herzog III (April 6, 1927 – May 25, 2010) was an American novelist, non-fiction writer, and journalist, well known for his works of science fiction and true crime books. He was the son of songwriter Arthur Herzog, Jr..

His novels The Swarm and Orca have been made into films. His science fiction novel IQ 83 is being made into a film by Dreamworks.

Herzog was also the author of non-fiction books: The Church Trap is a critique of Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish church organization and institutions particularly in the U.S; 17 Days: The Katie Beers Story, is about the kidnapping and child sexual abuse of Katie Beers.

Reviews

[Trin · Rating 1 out of 5]

For once it seems appropriate to write this review in the “things I learned” style of a 4th grade book report.

Things I Learned From This Book:

1. If you want to hide the fact that your science is ridiculous and your methods of exposition boring, you don’t need to hire someone like David Hewlett to explain it all very quickly and humorously; even without this aid, if you use enough big words, surely no one will notice that your explanations are just sitting there leaden on the page, to be exposed as the ridiculous and boring fake science they are.

2. If you want your main character to be less affected by your invented “stupid sickness” than everyone else, you don’t need to provide even a half-assed explanation like “it’s thanks to my Ancient gene” or “it’s because I used nasal spray/took Tylenol/ate Wheaties this morning” or anything; just the fact that he’s your main character is enough.

3. An IQ drop will make everyone struggle to remember words the author has seemingly at random decided are difficult; the characters will all display this absent-mindedness by stuttering over the words they are trying to reco—rec—remember in exactly the same way.

4. An IQ drop will make women lose their inhibitions and become the sex-starved creatures they really are! (Because smart, sexually confident women don’t really exist.)

5. An IQ drop will make the novel’s single significant character of color—a black scientist—first start talking in “jive,” and then “regress” to the point where he—honest to god—dons a loincloth and tries to cook and eat one of his coworkers. (And yes, this will be the point when, less than 15 pages from the end, the reader will just barely resist the urge to chuck the book across the room and repeatedly stomp upon it until its spine is broken.)

6. An IQ drop will in general not make people anything like the actually mentally handicapped, it will just make them, you know, kinda trashy. Like the women will dye their hair blonde and wear skimpy clothing. The men will want to do nothing but drink beer and watch TV. And the teenagers—why, their desires will immediately turn to playing pool. Yes, pool! It’s trouble with a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for pool!

7. The author is apparently not kidding about that pool thing.

8. An intelligence-sapping plague makes for an excellent opportunity to ditch your wife in favor of a younger, hotter female scientist who has absolutely no personality or other function in the narrative.

9. This book makes Flowers For Algernon look like a frickin’ masterpiece.

10. If you thought this book would be a fun, intense thriller—well, maybe you do need to get your IQ checked.

[Lara · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was simultaneously so cringe-inducing and so much fun (MST3K-type fun). There were a couple moments of pathos with characters who were aware that something was wrong, but the stupid-virus had progressed so far that they literally could not comprehend any explanations, and thus they panicked. But mostly it was stereotype and cliche after stereotype and cliche, not to mention some of the clunkiest exposition ever. Full spoilery review below.


Doctor Protagonist: Hi! I'll be your Protagonist for this novel! You can call me Doctor Protagonist, since everyone always calls me that! Because I am a Doctor, and I am very smart, as are my wife and children. I'm so proud of me! I mean, them!

Karma, in the background: Heh heh heh.

Doctor Protagonist: I and my fellows are fiddling with DNA! DNA! How the f*** does it work?

Doctor Ad: I'm the character who's too smart for his own good! Have I mentioned my intelligence yet in this paragraph? Also, Doctor Protagonist, your wife is hot.

DoctorP: Thanks, Doctor Ad! I don't see this ever being an issue in our friendship.

Black Doctor: I'm the token person of color!

Female Doctor: I'm the token female! I'm also young and gorgeous, and I know a Protagonist when I see one.

Doctors: SCIENCE! SCIENCE FOR THE GREATER GOOD!

Doctor Ad: I'm working early, alone, and I have a cold. But this will not affect me one iota, due to my epic intelligence! Why, it doesn't matter that I ignored several safety rules, took a deep breath over an uncovered sample with altered DNA in it, then sneezed and wiped my nose! I don't think this is even an issue! I shan't mention it to anyone.

Doctor Ad: spends a full day working in the hospital, goes home with DoctorP, kisses his wife, hugs their kids, eats their food, congratulates their housekeeper, and leaves on a business trip, sneezing continually. Karma, over in the corner, is in hysterics.

DoctorP: Hmmmmm. Honey, why are you suddenly unable to do your crossword puzzles?

Wife: I dunno.

DoctorP: Daughter of mine, why have you stopped reading and started watching TV, even when it's a test pattern?

Daughter: Books are haaaaaaard. And the TV's purty. And I like boyzzzzz, even though I'm only eleven and have never cared a whit for the gender before now.

DoctorP: And why are my thoughts suddenly constantly interrupted by old commercial jingles, stupid jokes, and inane nonsense babble argle margle blah blah blah there once was a lad from Nantucket WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?

The News: SAT scores are dropping! Crime is rising! People can no longer drive cars! And gee golly, this telly-prompter's awful hard to read.

Doctor Ad: Did I mention I went on a plane? It went vroom vroom vroom swooooosh, and I went to several airports and sneezed there.

DoctorP: Well, crap.

The Hospital: goes all to pieces.

DoctorP: My fellows! We must attempt to solve this problem WITH SCIENCE!...while we still can.

Black Doctor: Why sho', bossman. Lemme go get mah cornpone first.

Female Doctor: Wanna see what I look like naked?

Doctor Ad: Doctoring is boring! I'm gonna go do stuff. Like your wife.

DoctorP: Excuse me????

The Head of the Department: Clearly, the best way to solve this crisis is to send weaponized boxes of this virus to the Reds! Then we'll all be stupid together! If only I could remember how to use a stamp...

DoctorP: goes home.

Doctor Ad: was totally not kidding about doing his wife.

DoctorP: OMGWTF? You are both...mean old jerks, is what you are...damn it, what happened to my rapier wit?

Wife: You're boring and no fun and all I wanna do now is bleach my hair and wear slutty clothes and have sex. But not with you! And I'm taking the child!

DoctorP: We have two children.

Wife: I KNEW THAT.

The City: goes all to pieces.

The Nation: looks likely to do the same.

The President: My fellow Ameri...Ameri...people. There is no cause for alarm. This is just a...thing...that's going on...Russians...was I?...ooooo, cookies...

Wife: moves out.

Female Doctor: Hi!

DoctorP: ...were you waiting around the corner for her to leave?

Female Doctor: Yep! I've loved you forever, and now I'm too stupid not to act directly on my urges. Wanna get naked?

DoctorP: As the Protagonist, I should do the right thing. But also, the Protagonist is destined to get the Hot Girl...

Female Doctor: I'll just writhe around on the bed over here, because apparently all women lose every last inhibition and become nymphos when they're stupid.

Doctor P's Last Few Brain Cells: give up.

The Country: is in shambles.

DoctorP: Must find cure. Must find cure. Which end is up on this microscopey?

Black Doctor: Lawdy, suh, I jes' am so confuzzled!

Doctor Ad: Woo hoo hoo blah blah blah wanna sweetie!

Female Doctor: Wantsexwantsexwantsexwantsex...

DoctorP: Amazing how everyone has devolved into caricature except me. God, I love being the Protagonist. Wait. Could this McGuffin we've had on hand since page 6 be the cure? Only one way to find out!

DoctorP: tries eight times, manages to inject himself. Several hours of agonizing pain later... I'm cured, everyone!

Black Doctor: Me go back to jungle, bwana.

Doctor Ad: drools.

Female Doctor: Mate?

DoctorP: ...it's gonna be a long road back.

[Dan Slimmon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty rough. One-dimensional, stereotype-driven characters. Stilted dialogue. Shallow conception of intelligence and human nature.

I'm giving it 2 stars rather than 1 because the premise is interesting and I did manage to read the whole thing.

[Rob Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prime late-70s disaster trash. Pervasive sexism, cardboard characters, slapdash plotting, and a fair amount of humor (some of which, at least, is intentional). So yeah, I enjoyed it.

[Downward · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a sort of dry by occasionally very funny book about a virus that makes people stupider, told in a super clinical hard science kind of way that is Arthur Herzog's MO. there are a lot of scientific ideas drawn out (some of which are laden with different problematic biases, but hey that's science and certainly reflective of the science of the time that the book was written and besides it does a lot of its best to confront these biases) through dramatic scenes of people slowly forgetting what they're supposed to be doing, losing their grip on their professionalism and reverting to a dumber if not downright infantile state. it's interesting to see these ideas develop and as mentioned before it's funny, which writing "dumb" characters is a difficult trick to pull off for sure. Anyway, I love Herzog as a hard sf writer and I'll probably do either the swarm of LSITT in the coming months.

[David Weigel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Years ago, maybe 30 years ago, my eye caught the cover of "IQ 83" in a library and I skimmed through. A goofy premise, but unnerving; a lab-leaked virus starts making everybody stupid, starting with a scientist who goes from thinking about a bad driver's physiognomy when he's rear-ended, to one who can't get a baked beans jingle out of his head. I thumbed over to a scene of a reporter using bad English to cover a sub-moronic president.

Seemed interesting. Seemed more interesting after I read Stephen King handle the concept in "The End of Whole Mess." The fear of losing one's intelligence was potent enough to get me through this middling airport novel. Instead of chase sequences or bomb-defusing countdowns, I read scenes of scientists taking IQ tests and realizing they had zoned out on someone else's monologue. It gets extraordinarily stupid when the minds of non-white, non-male characters start melting, and takes far too long to get to that, after a lot of rough work establishing how brainy our hero was. Not great!

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. James Healy and his team of scientists are on the verge of a breakthrough in gene therapy. Together, they work tirelessly to complete the tests that would allow for the next step: testing on volunteer humans. However, DNA-altered virus being tested breaks free in a quiet way, allowing it to spread like a common cold. Dr. Healy is the first to figure out what happened and sadly he must watch as his family and friends become stupid even as he himself struggles to remain intelligent long enough to find a cure.

The book starts off a touch slow, but then starts delving into the science, which hooked me. Dr. Healy is in charge of the treatment of a young girl (Cathy Gobrin) who suffers from a metabolic genetic disease. If she doesn’t live on a special diet, her metabolism goes sideways and her IQ drops to the point where she can barely feed herself. This is probably Dr. Healy’s motivation for having set the research and experiments in place for a new gene therapy treatment.

There is a lot of character development, which I enjoyed. It gave the story a harder punch when my favorite characters started to decline due to this unleashed disease. While the book is written with an almost 1950s flavor (no cussing, no cell phones, etc.), there are female scientists and cultural and ethnic diversity in the characters. I really appreciated that this scifi story wasn’t dominated by White male characters making all the decisions.

The stupid sickness, which is a practical thing to call this new man-made disease, made it hard for the affected to concentrate, often dredging up rhymes or bits of song from the person’s childhood and playing them on a loop in the background all the time. It’s like when you have a bit of song stuck in your head that won’t leave. Memory and impulse control also become shoddy. I really enjoyed all the social implications of having a stupid population. How would the government keep other nations from taking over? Would marriages hold up to impatient spouses? Would school systems even be around after a generation? It was a great way to explore all these questions and more.

The book fell into natural thirds. The first third was a lot of character development and science info dumps (fine with me). The second third is where we the reader know the altered virus has escaped confinement but the characters haven’t figured it out yet (plenty of yummy suspense here). The last third has the most action as many of our characters are short on impulse control and Dr. Healy and his friends race against the virus’s clock to find a remedy (also a very good section). Over all, I found this a very satisfying story that came with plenty of philosophical food for thought.

Narration: Charles Henderson Norman was a good fit. We see almost the entire book through Dr. Healy’s eyes and Norman made a very good Dr. Healy. He also had distinct voices for both female and male characters. He has a goo voice for little girls too.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a gift from a friend, who gave me a paperback first edition for Christmas, so believe me when I say that I wanted desperately to like it. In fact, I've been sitting on this review for two days honing my euphemisms and trying to think of ways to make it a more acceptable 3-stars, but that would be a lie, and I've always endeavored to be honest on goodreads, unless my friend actually wrote the book, and then well, a recusal is in order.

This book. Oh, this book. We got off to a bad start when I opened the cover and found this giggle-inducing description:

DOOM WAS SPELLED WITH THREE LETTERS

DNA. The secret code of life that scientists seek to master, so that they can shape the future of the human race. But a "safe" DNA experiment that goes wrong creates a force that controls the scientists themselves--unleashing on the world a virus that lowers the intelligence of all it attacks!

***

Like THE CHINA SYNDROME, this story is fiction. The fact is that today in laboratories all over American, despite the protests of concerned scientists, DNA research is being actively pursued. This research, officials assure us, is perfectly safe...

Books of this sort are why I have a "future-is-a-crapshoot" tag. I'm sure this fear-mongering sounded perfectly reasonable when the book was published in 1978; in 2015 it's hilariously laughable. Yes, yes, we still could manufacture and accidentally release a deadly virus that kills us all, see that other book, The Stand, but I don't think there are all that many concerned scientists worrying about people doing "DNA experiments!" (I don't know GMOs? Not quite the same thing). Anyway, never mind that, the science is kind of crap, as is the sociology. Herzog has a serious hatred for dumb people, which just glows through his tale of dropping IQ. At about 60% of the way through the book, he includes a chart that gives professions by median IQ, that has attorneys and accountants at 128, and yet when Healy is around that same IQ, he's barely functioning as an appropriate adult in society. Umm, what? You don't have to have a blazing IQ to be a good person, or a really low one to have a sex drive, also implied. As the women's IQs decline, so does their ability to think about anything other than teh sex. And please, please, let's not even mention what happens to the story's lone scientist of color. Oh, why not, it involves a loin cloth, and mind you, his IQ is probably somewhere in the mid-nineties at this point. Bullshit.

This book is unimaginative, dull, and offensive.

[Leigh-ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I noticed this title came up in the sidebar on Goodreads when I did a search and it triggered a memory -- I'd read this book! I was in high school, in my "medical horror" stage (i.e. Robin Cook), and I know I enjoyed this book a lot. I was probably 16 or 17, so take my recommendation with a grain of salt. The one thing I can say is that the idiotic phrases the author uses to denote that a person is lapsing into idiocy have still stayed with me, things like, "mmm, mmm, good idea!" Given all that I've forgotten over the past 25 years, maybe that's the equivalent of two thumbs up?

[Lee · Rating 1 out of 5]

reading this book itself has decreased my IQ points.
making it a minus value.

I grabbed it from my Dad's collection.
Wondered why he even buy it in the first place.
maybe Dad got an unfinished revenge plan to someone that was involving force-reading this book..

DUNDUNDUUUUUN!

[Tate Schad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Searched everywhere to find this book. Eventually found it in an archived section in the Brooklyn Library. The premise sounded intriguing, hoping it would be like Flowers for Algernon. It had its moments, but it had a really slow pace until the last twenty pages. Probably not worth all the work to find it!

[Julie Hewitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Funny at times. Retro at times. Egotistical and misogynist at times. Well, it is a book of the 70s.

My partner also read the book, so we still crack up when one or the other of us comments 'mmm, mmm, good idea'.

[Iain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book doesn’t seem popular with readers. I thought it was clever and frightening. Plausible too whether or not the science in the book is convincing (I couldn’t comment). Some of the criticism seems to be politically correct.

[Gwyneth Yung · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is mia thermopolis’ from the princess diaries by meg cabot’s favorite book

[Rees Pozzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I quite enjoyed it!

There are certainly some objectively poor undertones in this book, but given the year this was written I try to not linger on them too much.

I liked the idea of a "stupid sickness" and it was interesting to see how that plot unfolds, the story is fast and easy to follow.

However, the final third was really let down by poor writing! Our main character has been reciting American States all of his life, suddenly he can only remember 2 because of his huge IQ decline. Yet, in the next paragraph he is debating Socrates and the Greek philosophy of intelligence? 🤣
Better yet, whilst his Coll-collea... peers are almost failing to function around him, Healey is somehow able to dial in and complete the complex genetic theory and application of a cure for the IQ reducing disease. What a fortunate blessing that somehow he was immune to the disease in many ways whilst also suffering from it 😆
This kind of theme is always present throughout the book and generally, character actions or behaviours do not make sense given an IQ drop, or are frankly insulting, and the more you think about it the worse it gets.
It was still an enjoyable read though

[shane grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novel written in 1978 predicting a global pandemic which creates a world where everyone is stupid, there is too much bureaucracy and people argue over the gendering of words.
It all feels a bit too familiar.

Ok, reading that back sounds pretty right-wing, and I guess that's the main issue a lot of people had with this book. It is somewhat dated in the way it plays out as a sort of wish fulfilment for the main character. Although he loses IQ along with the rest of the population, he remains smarter than almost everyone else and his sexy female colleague keeps throwing herself at him. There's also some iffy racial stereotypes.

Still, for me it's a minor gripe for a book with such foresight and playful humour.

When the zombie virus has been done to death so many times on screen, it's a wonder this has yet to be adapted. In my opinion it's a much scarier idea.

[Lazy Spice]

I won't rate this because I only read it as a kid in the nineties and don't remember much, although the title stuck with me. I'm amused to find it on Goodreads with recent reviews.

For anyone interested in a better execution of a similar premise, pick up the Stephen King short story collection Nightmares and Dreamscapes and read "The End of the Whole Mess".

[John (JC) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ending lifted me up

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was hilarious

[Love of Hopeless Causes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Should have started in media res, struck me as the book equivalent of a forgettable late seventies apocalyptic film, best avoided by a modern audience.

[Kevin Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good beginning, but a slog in the second half.

[Kyle Whitfield · Rating 1 out of 5]

Low IQ = trashy. Read this cause Charlie Kauffman is making a series out of it. Kauffman buddy, can you just say you’re adapting Stephen Kong’s short story “The End of the Whole Mess” instead?

[Maximillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOL and he wrote this in 1978? What a dumb world of irony this is.

[Mike Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

23

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I heard that Charlie Kaufman and Steve Carell are going to give IQ 83 a stab. By a stab, obviously, I mean adapt said book into a movie.

I've enjoyed every Kaufman movie I've seen and I tend to be pro-Steve Carell. And lately I've been really into reading a tiny snippet about a book on the internet and then immediately purchasing it. Because capitalism.

Also because books.

Needless to say, I bought it.

And it was totally worth it.

IQ 83 is very solidly sci-fi. It is also a whiff of fresh air in a world that focuses predominantly on the space/futurism/freakinlasers variety of sci-fi. IQ 83 is about a virus that escapes a lab. This virus has several side-effects, the most measurable one being that it damages IQ levels. The average IQ of the country very quickly drops to 83. The book has us follow a Doctor Healey and his team as they and their families slowly (and then quite rapidly) become more and more inept at dealing with their professional and personal worlds.

This is a fast and fun read. Herzog paces the book marvelously. The style with which he cuts from scene to scene usually mirrors the intensity of the virus, so at the end of the book especially, the chaos and confusion that the characters are experiencing flies off the pages. Every character, even as they become increasingly awful, is compelling.

The tone of the book is a little dated, in that it reads a little prejudiced in a few sections. There are also moments in the book that illustrate the correlation of dropping intellect with prejudice. Those are not the moments that bothered me because that was an obvious point Herzog was making. I mean the other moments where the tone was frustratingly caught in a world that was a little bit less conscientious than the one we're living in now. But that is a rather unfair criticism. We are the world we live in, after all.

Overall, strongly suggested. The movie should be good, too.

[Jim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Charlie Kaufman is adapting this book for Steve Carell. If it’s a good movie you see a year from now, you might wonder if the book is good. Wonder no longer!

Warning! Danger!

A story about geneticists accidentally creating a communicable stupidity virus has a lot of potential. Unfortunately, it was the seventies. The only black characters are the maid and a researcher who is introduced as “articulate” (!!!) but who slides from jive turkey all the way to Stepin Fetchit after he catches the disease. He is last seen literally in a loincloth. There are two female scientists, one of whom exposes herself to the hero the day she gets sick. Both become nymphomaniacs (stupid?) and sleep with the “hero” as soon as they can. The Jewish character secretly believes he's smarter than everyone else.

I know what it was like in 1978, but the fact that it is supposed to send ominous chills down your spine when the hero’s bright young daughter… starts asking to turn on… the TELEVISION!!!... is the most unintentionally hilarious thing I have read in some time.

The main character and the author have very, very high opinions of their own intelligence. Both are pigs. Blue collar characters were dumb to begin with, and they immediately descend into savagery when they get sick. Oh, the writer was born and raised in Manhattan and had a summer home in the country? I wish there was a way I could have guessed that about him.

NO STARS, BURN ON SIGHT

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

A DNA disaster unleashes a mind-shrinking storm on every man, woman and child in America!

YOU ARE DR. JAMES HEALEY AND LAST WEEK YOU WERE A GENIUS

That was before the DNA experiments. Before the accident you said could never happen…

Since then you have felt your mind decaying a little more each day. You have watched your wife slip into imbecility. You have seen the crowds growing murderous with animal terror, the President of the United States babbling and drooling on TV…

Only one thing separates you from them. You, at least, know what is happening as you search for the cure for the horror you have unleashed upon the world—as each day the dimming of your mind lowers your chance of finding it! (cover blurb)

"Well, good heavens, who can resist a synopsis like that?" I thought, and started reading it.

Omigosh. This may be the most preposterous story I ever read. To go along with the premise -- the devolution of human intelligence -- requires a major suspension of disbelief, not to mention critical thinking skills. And it's not particularly well-written besides. Still, it's a relatively enjoyable way to waste a couple of hours. Emphasis on waste, by the way. If you have anything else in the house, read it first.

[Richie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Arthur Herzog's "IQ 83" is "Outbreak" meets "Idiocracy" without the suspense of the former or humor of the latter. It follows Dr. James Healey who, in an attempt to manipulate DNA to cure certain genetic disorders, accidentally unleashes a virus on the populace that attacks IQ. It is up to Healey to find a cure before his own "stupid sickness" engulfs him and spells disaster for civilization as we know it.

I love the premise - And I am beyond excited to watch Charlie Kaufman's adaptation starring Steve Carrell - but Herzog makes the mistake of not giving us enough emotional attachment to his characters. Despite their intelligence, these are boring, paper-thin people who the reader struggles to care about. I often find myself thinking the same thing about Stephen King's novels - Great story, No character/connection. Ultimately, we need to fear for the protagonist(s) or else we don't care if the virus or monster or alien, etc. wipes out all of humanity. I truly believe, in Kaufman's capable hands, this will be one of those rare instances where the movie is greater than the source-material.

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting plot line. I would have liked it more if there was a remarkably noticeable difference in characters as their intelligence decreased. More than just misspelling words when required to write, or using simpler words. The fact that the author con...con...kept using the same for...form....way to show it was very irr...irr.....annoying. (Get my meaning?) As their intelligence went down in the beginning, I could see it being plausible, but to continue trying for big words before going for a lower level words when the characters themselves were already at a rather low level was unbelievable. It would be like talking to a five-year-old that kept trying to use big words but forgot them as he was speaking. Completely unbelievable.

[Douglas Castagna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A disease that makes people stupid. Fodder for a movie for sure and one is being developed as I type this, but will it be as "satirical" as the material here suggests. Idiocracy was a funny movie, that was satirical and so on point it almost wasn't funny, as the case with this book. The dumbing down of America has been happening for some time, as its increasing sophistication if forms of media and technology. So are we, as a nation getting smarter, or dumber?

That debate is for another time, this book however poses a different question. What would happen if there was a virus, something extrinsic, that made us lose our intelligence? How would the intelligentsia react once they dropped IQ points? How would they stop it, would we as a nation learn to adapt. Brilliant and timely.