Beginning at the scene of a cannibal feast in New Guinea that spread a fatal illness to all who participated, this book follows the trail of a group of related human and animal diseases spreading around the world. Collectively they have come to be called prion diseases, the best-known being mad-cow disease, and already it is believed by some in Britain and elsewhere in Europe that there is danger in eating beef, and possibly also lamb, venison, pork and chicken. The author raises the spectre of what he contends is an ineradicable, untreatable, fatal disease whose spread is insidious and, unless urgent action is taken, unstoppable. The book calls into question the wisdom of transplants and the safety of milk, meat, gelatine, soap, surgical sutures, supplements in processed foods, and even leather goods and common garden bonemeal. Rhodes's other books include "The Making of the Atomic Bomb", "Dark Sun", "Nuclear Renewal" and "A Hole in the World".
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Fans of The Hot Zone will find Deadly Feasts irresistible. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Rhodes delivers a gripping account of a disease and its discovery. If you thought the Ebola virus was bad news, check out transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Always fatal, they can lurk in a body for years before emerging to claim their victims by turning their brains to slush. At least Ebola sickens quickly and occasionally spares a life. Rhodes exaggerates when he calls this a "new plague" in his subtitle, but TSEs are to blame for the real-world disaster of mad cow disease in Britain. And they do pose a genuine threat to human life.
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""Deadly Feasts" is a book to be read and pondered carefully -- and perhaps acted on -- possibly before eating one's next hamburger."-Oliver Sacks, "The New Yorker"
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DARK NIGHT in the mountains and no drums beating. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
DARK NIGHT in the mountains and no drums beating. Read the first page
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
Richard Rhodes visits a topic that no one wants to talk about. I first read about the New Guinea Fore tribe and their sorcery illness (which came to be known to western science as "kuru") in an anthropology class. I remember being horrified by the idea that people would eat spoiled pork, much less each other. The more I know about how meat is prepared and consumed in the United States, the less horrific the Fore diet seems. It is not a big surprise to find out that there are likely contaminates in American beef just like the ones in British beef. Rhodes' scientists estimated that by 2015, there may be 200,000 deaths annually as a result of bovine spongiform encephalytis (BVE) which is the god-fearing American's version of Mad Cow Disease. Well, if we start feeding our cows vegetarian diets (which is what they are supposed to be eating anyway), and when we slaughter them we are mindful of the spinal column and brain, then we should be able to manage the situation. Imagine, there's spinal cord and brain tissue in hamburger, unless the butchering is done with care. Why shouldn't the butchering process be as mindful in the slaughterhouse as it is on the farm? All we have to save is our souls (well, our brains anyway.)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Some people prefer to bury their heads in the sand until a public health crisis emerges. Others, like to predict the end of civilization. In DEADLY FEAST Rhodes allows us to see the consquences of both approaches. Rhodes will enlighten you in ways you might not be prepared about prions, the damage they can do and how they've infiltrated the food chain through careless use of animal feed. Although we don't have a full understanding of prions or the new threat they may consitute, Rhodes gives as complete a picture as possible of the impact of this "disease" on both our food supply and humanity.
This book isn't designed to scare, but scare it does, particularly on the ways government manages to overlook public health issues for the convience of business and profit. Will this disease have the devasting impact that Rhodes projects? It's hard to say, but if government and industry continue to do nothing about this, it's safe to say that Rhodes' predictions are bound to happen sometime.
Although not a perfect book(there are still too many questions and too much open to debate about prions), DEADLY FEAST is a very thought provoking book that will change your perspective about how our society operates and the continued threat of nature to our way of life.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Richard Rhodes provides a spectacular account of the discovery and elucidation of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. From cannibal feasts in the south pacific to the technocanibalism of the British beef industry, this book provides a concise summary of the last fifty years worth of research into "prions." Rhodes is also careful to scrutinize and question some of the most contentious points about prions, including Prusiner's assertions that eventual led to his receiving a nobel prize. This book truly captures the essence and magnitude of the public health dilemna surrounding TSEs. Overall a great work. Caution: readers who don't have a rudimentary grasp of genetics might want to have a medical dictionary handy.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
I'll never eat another hamburger again.
Richard Rhodes writes an exceedingly good book. He organizes this hard to swallow material in an easy to follow way. Read more
Published on 28 Mar 1999
3.0 out of 5 stars
Science or fiction - you can never stop wondering
Although at face value this story appears to have considerable merit it cannot be taken too seriously. Read more
Published on 25 Aug 1998
1.0 out of 5 stars
pure fiction from a vegetarian point of view!!
Although well written, the author has slanted his results to fit his "tale" of horror and doom! Read more
Published on 25 Aug 1998
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must read for everyone who eats meat
A must read for everyone who eats meat. This book is a stunning achivement that will scare everyone who reads it. Read more
Published on 16 July 1998
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thoroughly engrossing book.
In the style of Richard Preston's "The Hot Zone," Rhodes takes the reader into the jungles where kuru is breaking out and to the cities and countrysides of England which... Read more
Published on 11 Dec 1997
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting, but not a lot of meat
Deadly Feasts is an interesting book describing some of the developments in the study of prion based diseases. Read more
Published on 11 July 1997
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent
Rhodes is a gripping author that had me devouring this book. The technical scientific information was presented in an interesting and understandable way. Read more
Published on 21 Jun 1997
5.0 out of 5 stars
Scarriest book I ever read and I am a Stephen King Fan!!!!
I'll never be able to look at food the same way!
If you are a die hard meat eater, I suggest steering clear of this book. Read more
If you are a die hard meat eater, I suggest steering clear of this book. Read more
Published on 27 April 1997
5.0 out of 5 stars
Scarier than Stephan King, and true
Rhodes tracks the entire history of TSEs (transmissable spongiform encephalopathies) through the researchers who studied and solved many of their puzzles. Read more
Published on 18 April 1997
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bowl full of brains, brain full of holes
This is the definitive new book on TSE's (Transmittable Spongiform Encephalopathies), which is the general term for diseases like: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
(CJD), kuru,... Read more
(CJD), kuru,... Read more
Published on 14 April 1997
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