“I learned a lot about the history and politics not only of malaria, but of anti-malaria movements and charities. If nothing else, the book really made me think about how "charity chic" really affects disease control and eradication. This is especially timely considering the recent announcement of Mosquirix, a malaria vaccine with successful clinical trials; the research for which was partially funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Shah states that the Foundation has usurped the WHO and other government authorities in setting the agenda for malaria control).
My personal rating of the book has little to do with the material and everything to do with its presentation. I think Shah relied too heavily on writing tricks to move the story forward (whole paragraphs of rhetorical questions?) and the organization of the chapters seemed strange to me. Further, while it is obvious that researching the subject made an impact on the author, it doesn't really seem like she reached a conclusion - something I've come to expect from non-fiction with a point of view. I suspect that her career in investigative journalism probably didn't help in this case. ”
jory b wrote this review Monday, October 24, 2011.
(
reply |
permalink )
