The Health/Medicine Shelf

Blight: Fungi and the Coming Pandemic
Emily Monosson
W. W. Norton & Company
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
www.wwnorton.com
9781324007012, $28.95, HC, 272pp

https://www.amazon.com/Blight-Coming-Pandemic-Emily-Monosson/dp/132400701X

Synopsis: A fungus is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that = includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more famil= iar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from=
the other eukaryotic kingdoms, which, by one traditional classification, i= ncludes Plantae, Animalia, Protozoa, and Chromista. (Wikipedia)

Fungi are everywhere. Most are harmless; some are helpful. A few are killer=
s. Collectively, infectious fungi are the most devastating agents of diseas=
e on earth, and a fungus that can persist in the environment without its ho=
st is here to stay.

With the publication of "Blight: Fungi and the Coming Pandemic", academicia=
n Emily Monosson documents how trade, travel, and a changing climate are ma= king us all more vulnerable to invasion. Populations of bats, frogs, and sa= lamanders face extinction.

In the Northwest, America's beloved national parks are covered with the spi= ndly corpses of whitebark pines. Food crops are under siege, threatening ou=
r 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 dust=
y regions, may cause infection in apparently healthy people. These horrors =
go on and on.

Yet prevention is not impossible. Tracing the history of fungal spread and = the most recent discoveries in the field, Monosson meets with scientists wh=
o are working tirelessly to protect species under threat, and whose innovat= ive approaches to fungal invasion have the potential to save human lives. D= elving into case studies at once fascinating, sobering, and hopeful, "Bligh=
t: Fungi and the Coming Pandemic" serves as a wake-up call, a reminder of t=
he delicate interconnectedness of the natural world, and a lesson in seeing=
life on our planet with renewed humility and awe.

Critique: Informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of a two=
page bibliography of Further Readings, thirty-two pages of Notes, and a fo= urteen page Index, "Blight: Fungi and the Coming Pandemic" is exceptionally=
well written, organized, and presented -- making it ideal for students, ac= ademia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject.=
While also available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (= Kindle, $14.99), "Blight: Fungi and the Coming Pandemic" is unreservedly re= commended for both community and academic library Health/Medicine collectio=
ns and supplemental curriculum Parasitology studies lists.

Editorial Note: Emily Monosson is the author of Natural Defense, Unnatural = Selection, and Evolution in a Toxic World. She is a member of the Ronin Ins= titute for Independent Scholarship and an adjunct faculty member at the Uni= versity of Massachusetts Amherst. She has a an online web page at https://e= co.umass.edu/people/adjunct-faculty/monosson-emily

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