Blight

Fungi and the Coming Pandemic

By: Emily Monosson

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Hardcover | 18 July 2023 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Hardcover
272 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.5 x 16.0 x 2.5

Hardcover

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Fungi are everywhere. Most are harmless; some are helpful. A few are killers. Collectively, infectious fungi are the most devastating agents of disease on earth, and a fungus that can persist in the environment without its host is here to stay. In Blight, Emily Monosson documents how trade, travel, and a changing climate are making us all more vulnerable to invasion. Populations of bats, frogs, and salamanders face extinction. In the Northwest, America's beloved national parks are covered with the spindly corpses of whitebark pines. Food crops are under siege, threatening our coffee, bananas, and wheat--and, more broadly, our global food security. Candida auris, drug-resistant and resilient, infects hospital patients and those with weakened immune systems. Coccidioides, which lives in drier dusty regions, may cause infection in apparently healthy people. The horrors go on.

Yet prevention is not impossible. Tracing the history of fungal spread and the most recent discoveries in the field, Monosson meets scientists who are working tirelessly to protect species under threat, and whose innovative approaches to fungal invasion have the potential to save human lives. Delving into case studies at once fascinating, sobering, and hopeful, Blight serves as a wake-up call, a reminder of the delicate interconnectedness of the natural world, and a lesson in seeing life on our planet with renewed humility and awe.

Industry Reviews

[Blight] is a short, crisp introduction to the possibility of being devoured by fungi.--Heather Smith "Sierra"
Unsettling . . . Blight emphasizes the decidedly unsalutary things that fungi can do.--Jennifer Szalai "New York Times"
Monosson brings eloquence and clarity to her enigmatic subject: the often invisible existence of fungi and the incredible ways it influences and impacts our lives. In turn fascinating and frightening, Blight will alarm readers in the best possible way--by changing how they look at the world around them.--M. R. O'Connor, author of Wayfinding: The Science and Mystery of How Humans Navigate the World
Time and again, our habits of global travel and commerce have let loose fungal pathogens with devastating effect, as Monosson shows in gripping stories of harmful fungi decimating frogs, bats, bananas, American chestnuts, white pines, and other species. These past fights add up to an indelible cautionary tale, making Blight required reading for the post-COVID age.--Susan Freinkel, author of Plastic: A Toxic Love Story

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