Awards

• Short-listed for National Book Critics Circle Awards 2014 (United States)
• Shortlisted for National Book Critics Circle Awards 2014.

Overview

When Eula Biss became a mother, she stepped into a new world of fear: fear of the government, the medical establishment, the contents of her child's air, food, mattress and vaccines. In this bold, fascinating book, Biss investigates the metaphors and myths surrounding our conception of immunity, and its implications for the individual and the social body. Weaving her personal experiences with an exploration of classical and contemporary literature, Biss considers what vaccines, and the debate around them, mean for her own child, her immediate community and the wider world. On Immunity is an inoculation against our fear and a moving account of how we are all interconnected; our bodies and our fates.

Full Product Details

9781922182944

Table of Contents

Reviews

'Biss presents an articulate, balanced view of the vaccination debate from the perspective of a young, first-time mother with minimal medical knowledge...An interesting and thought-provoking read.' BookMooch 'So well written, it's unbelievable' Bill Gates 'It's fascinating reading, made possible by Biss' particular blend of scepticism and empathy...Although the book is beautifully written in minimal prose and organised sharply, it is hard to overstate the wealth of information threaded and elaborated throughout its tidy, sturdy structure.' Saturday Paper 'Her [Biss] exploration of the history of vaccinating is absorbing.' Adelaide Advetiser 'She advances from all sides, like a chess player, drawing on science, myth, literature...What she seems to be suggesting is that knowledge isn't an inoculation. It doesn't happen just once. There are things that must be learned and learned again, seen first with the mind and felt later in the body.' New York Times Book Review 'This elegant, intelligent and very beautiful book...is elliptical, elusive, neither collection nor narrative exactly but more a set of questions about how we frame our interactions with the world.' Los Angeles Times 'The power of Biss's book stems, in the end, from its subtle insistence on the interrelationship of things-of the mythological and the medical, the private and the public, the natural and the unnatural-and on the idea that one's relationship with disease and immunity is not distinct from one's relationship with the world.' Slate 'On Immunity might be classified as a work of deep ecology. It sees, for example, the body as a garden, the immune 'system' as a tidal ebb and flow, and immunity as inseparable from community.' Rumpus 'Biss's project, it turns out, is far grander than a simple explanation of the facts...On Immunity is as much a book about trust as it is a book about vaccines.' Millions 'A multilayered investigation of fear and perception.' Time Out New York 'On Immunity rejects the metaphors of acquisition and contamination for a microcosmic communism: 'We owe each other our bodies.' What else might we reinvent with that new language?' Hazlitt 'In an impeccably researched book that spans centuries, continents and cultures, ultimately Biss is asking: What do we do with our fear - of our government, of others, of sickness, of our own bodies? She uses stirring language that leaves the reader unsettled, unsure of where the individual ends and the community begins.' Kansas City Star 'On Immunity is a history, a personal narrative, ultimately a powerful argument that reads, the whole time, like a poem.' Guernica 'With bureaucratic hurdles delaying Ebola treatments, this book seems especially timely. But the scope of Biss's argument and the grace of her prose make it timeless.' Maclean's '[Biss] has been compared to Joan Didion, and the reasons are obvious here. Like Didion she has a gift for coming at her subjects from all sides, in unsentimental, lyrical prose.' Bookforum 'Here's the biggest twist: On Immunity is not actually about vaccination. This is a deeply philosophical book, one that's less concerned with pure science than with the elemental fear that we can never protect our children from the world.' Entertainment Weekly 'On Immunity casts a spell...There's drama in watching this smart writer feel her way through this material. She's a poet, an essayist and a class spy. She reveals herself as believer and apostate, moth and flame.' New York Times 'Her mind is everywhere at once, and her conclusions are subtle, deeply felt, and convincing.' Fiction Advocate '[Biss] brings a sober, erudite, and humane voice to an often overheated debate.' New Yorker 'A brilliant and empathic exploration of the vaccine wars, at once entertaining and useful.' American Scholar 'She understands the marrow-deep desire people have to protect their children, whatever the risks and costs, and this empathy (more than the book's research) is Biss's triumph, and what makes her voice so important in the nationwide debate for or against vaccinations.' Brooklyn Rail 'Artfully mixing motherhood, myth, maladies, and metaphors into her presentation, Biss transcends medical science and trepidation.' -- STARRED Review Booklist 'Brightly informative, giving readers a sturdy platform from which to conduct their own research and take personal responsibility.' -- STARRED Review Kirkus 'Biss frankly and optimistically looks at our 'unkempt' world and our shared mission to protect one another.' -- STARRED Review Publisher's Weekly 'On Immunity is as much a meditation about community in an era of increasing privatisation, as it is a sweeping synthesis of scientific research.' Feministing

'So well written, it's unbelievable' Bill Gates 'It's fascinating reading, made possible by Biss' particular blend of scepticism and empathy...Although the book is beautifully written in minimal prose and organised sharply, it is hard to overstate the wealth of information threaded and elaborated throughout its tidy, sturdy structure.' Saturday Paper 'Her [Biss] exploration of the history of vaccinating is absorbing.' Adelaide Advetiser 'She advances from all sides, like a chess player, drawing on science, myth, literature...What she seems to be suggesting is that knowledge isn't an inoculation. It doesn't happen just once. There are things that must be learned and learned again, seen first with the mind and felt later in the body.' New York Times Book Review 'This elegant, intelligent and very beautiful book...is elliptical, elusive, neither collection nor narrative exactly but more a set of questions about how we frame our interactions with the world.' Los Angeles Times 'The power of Biss's book stems, in the end, from its subtle insistence on the interrelationship of things-of the mythological and the medical, the private and the public, the natural and the unnatural-and on the idea that one's relationship with disease and immunity is not distinct from one's relationship with the world.' Slate 'Biss's project, it turns out, is far grander than a simple explanation of the facts...On Immunity is as much a book about trust as it is a book about vaccines.' Millions 'A multilayered investigation of fear and perception.' Time Out New York 'On Immunity is a history, a personal narrative, ultimately a powerful argument that reads, the whole time, like a poem.' Guernica 'Here's the biggest twist: On Immunity is not actually about vaccination. This is a deeply philosophical book, one that's less concerned with pure science than with the elemental fear that we can never protect our children from the world.' Entertainment Weekly 'On Immunity casts a spell...There's drama in watching this smart writer feel her way through this material. She's a poet, an essayist and a class spy. She reveals herself as believer and apostate, moth and flame.' New York Times '[Biss] brings a sober, erudite, and humane voice to an often overheated debate.' New Yorker 'A brilliant and empathic exploration of the vaccine wars, at once entertaining and useful.' American Scholar 'Artfully mixing motherhood, myth, maladies, and metaphors into her presentation, Biss transcends medical science and trepidation.' -- STARRED Review Booklist 'Brightly informative, giving readers a sturdy platform from which to conduct their own research and take personal responsibility.' -- STARRED Review Kirkus 'Biss frankly and optimistically looks at our 'unkempt' world and our shared mission to protect one another.' -- STARRED Review Publishers Weekly 'On Immunity needs no topical hook to recommend it, such is its power as a work of literature. Eula Biss is as fine a thinker as she is a stylist.' Sydney Morning Herald 'Biss has produced a book that's like a luxurious quilt, beautiful and comforting...[her] approach is subtle and indirect, circling the subject to illuminate it from different angles.' Weekend Press 'On Immunity is essential reading for anyone genuinely interested in the subject. Pro or con, it will shake up what you think you know.' Australian 'Thoughtful and thought provoking.' Otago Daily Times '[Biss] dispels myths and delineates our fears. She notes her own fallibilities and transient misconceptions, and through this brisk and readable book enlightens us all.' On MAS

'Biss presents an articulate, balanced view of the vaccination debate from the perspective of a young, first-time mother with minimal medical knowledge...An interesting and thought-provoking read.' BookMooch

'So well written, it's unbelievable' Bill Gates 'It's fascinating reading, made possible by Biss' particular blend of scepticism and empathy...Although the book is beautifully written in minimal prose and organised sharply, it is hard to overstate the wealth of information threaded and elaborated throughout its tidy, sturdy structure.' Saturday Paper 'Her [Biss] exploration of the history of vaccinating is absorbing.' Adelaide Advetiser 'She advances from all sides, like a chess player, drawing on science, myth, literature...What she seems to be suggesting is that knowledge isn't an inoculation. It doesn't happen just once. There are things that must be learned and learned again, seen first with the mind and felt later in the body.' New York Times Book Review 'This elegant, intelligent and very beautiful book...is elliptical, elusive, neither collection nor narrative exactly but more a set of questions about how we frame our interactions with the world.' Los Angeles Times 'The power of Biss's book stems, in the end, from its subtle insistence on the interrelationship of things-of the mythological and the medical, the private and the public, the natural and the unnatural-and on the idea that one's relationship with disease and immunity is not distinct from one's relationship with the world.' Slate 'Biss's project, it turns out, is far grander than a simple explanation of the facts...On Immunity is as much a book about trust as it is a book about vaccines.' Millions 'A multilayered investigation of fear and perception.' Time Out New York 'On Immunity is a history, a personal narrative, ultimately a powerful argument that reads, the whole time, like a poem.' Guernica 'Here's the biggest twist: On Immunity is not actually about vaccination. This is a deeply philosophical book, one that's less concerned with pure science than with the elemental fear that we can never protect our children from the world.' Entertainment Weekly 'On Immunity casts a spell...There's drama in watching this smart writer feel her way through this material. She's a poet, an essayist and a class spy. She reveals herself as believer and apostate, moth and flame.' New York Times '[Biss] brings a sober, erudite, and humane voice to an often overheated debate.' New Yorker 'A brilliant and empathic exploration of the vaccine wars, at once entertaining and useful.' American Scholar 'Artfully mixing motherhood, myth, maladies, and metaphors into her presentation, Biss transcends medical science and trepidation.' -- STARRED Review Booklist 'Brightly informative, giving readers a sturdy platform from which to conduct their own research and take personal responsibility.' -- STARRED Review Kirkus 'Biss frankly and optimistically looks at our 'unkempt' world and our shared mission to protect one another.' -- STARRED Review Publisher's Weekly

Author Information

Eula Biss is the author of Notes from No Man’s Land, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism, and The Balloonists. Her essays have appeared in the Believer and Harper’s Magazine. She teaches at Northwestern University and lives in Chicago.

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