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On immunity
345 pages
A lyrical, deeply empathetic exploration of maternal anxiety and the invisible threads that bind our bodies to the collective.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like sitting with a brilliant, deeply empathetic friend who is helping you untangle your most primal fears. The pace is steady and contemplative, allowing the reader to sink into a mood that is at once intimately anxious and intellectually expansive. It captures the claustrophobia of new parenthood and the overwhelming dread of a contaminated world, but gently guides you toward a profound sense of interconnectedness. The prose is lyrical and precise, treating metaphors of disease and immunity with the care of a poet and the rigor of a philosopher. It will deeply satisfy readers who crave essayistic nonfiction that bridges the deeply personal with the societal, offering a comforting yet challenging meditation on what we owe to one another.
- Mood
- reflective
- intimate
- anxious
- intellectual
- Tone
- empathetic
- inquisitive
- measured
- lyrical
- thoughtful
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- maternal anxiety · collective responsibility · bodily purity myths · the social contract · fear of the unknown · interconnectedness
- The writing
- Lyrical, precise, and deeply metaphorical, seamlessly weaving personal reflection with historical and cultural analysis.
- The arc
- Moves from a state of isolated, overwhelming maternal anxiety to a grounded, expansive understanding of collective vulnerability and trust.
- Who it's for
- Readers who appreciate rigorous, empathetic cultural criticism blended with personal narrative, especially those navigating modern anxieties about health and community.
Content notes
- medical anxiety
- illness
- childbirth
- disease
About the book
Upon becoming a new mother, Eula Biss addresses a chronic condition of fear: fear of the government, the medical establishment, and what is in children's food, mattresses, medicines, and vaccines. Biss investigates the metaphors and myths surrounding the conception of immunity and its implications for the individual and the social body. As she hears more and more fears about vaccines, Biss researches what they mean for her own child, her immediate community, America, and the world.
Description from Open Library.
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