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The Premonition

A Pandemic Story

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The Premonition

By: Michael Lewis
Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.
'It's a foreboding,' she said. 'A knowing that something is looming around the corner. Like how when the seasons change you can smell fall in the air right before the leaves change and the wind turns cold.'
In January 2020, as people started dying from a new virus in Wuhan, China, few really understood the magnitude of what was happening. Except, that is, a small group of scientific misfits who in their different ways had been obsessed all their lives with how viruses spread and replicated - and with why the governments and the institutions that were supposed to look after us, kept making the same mistakes time and again.
This group saw what nobody else did. A pandemic was coming. We weren't prepared.
The Premonition is the extraordinary story of a group who anticipated, traced and hunted the coronavirus; who understood the need to think differently, to learn from history, to question everything; and to do all of this fast, in order to act, to save lives, communities, society itself. It's a story about the workings of the human mind; about the failures and triumphs of human judgment and imagination. It's the story of how we got to now.
© Michael Lewis 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

 Biological Sciences Corporate & Public Finance Economics Macroeconomics Science China

Critic Reviews

When the stories of our times are told, there will be no more seminal documents than the books of Michael Lewis.
He is so good everyone else may as well pack up.
Michael Lewis is one of the premier chroniclers of our age.
Superb ... It is tremendous fun, tremendously told. There is a lot to take from it - about the inertia of the US civil service, about the "malignant obedience" of middle managers, about how people fearful of the pandemic were treated with the "wary indulgence of the sane in the presence of the fanatic" ... Among those truths, in a familiar lesson for much of the world this year, is the danger of hubris. (Tom Whipple)
A gripping story ... This is a book about some brave, curious people who tried hard to swim against the tide. As always in a Lewis book they are brought vividly alive ... Lewis is a master of his form. (Christina Patterson)
A fluid intellectual thriller ... As always with Lewis, the book is full of fascinating facts and personal angles. (Steven Poole)
[Reading The Premonition] we see a disturbing common trait emerging in our country and others: the unwillingness to prioritise people's lives over ideas and ingrained structures. (Kazuo Ishiguro)
It is hard to think of a writer who has had more success than Michael Lewis at turning forbiddingly complex situations into propulsive nonfiction narratives ... Without his ever having to spell it out, Lewis's message comes across very powerfully: the US government, in its institutional dysfunction, is in danger of abandoning its citizens to a private sector that is even less equipped to deal with large-scale disasters such as Covid. (Mark O’Connell)
All stars
Most relevant
I appreciated the story but was disappointed by the protagonist’s lack of any broad based population strategy outside of vaccines (Nb the cv jabs are not vaccines), lock-downs, social distancing & masks which have all proven to be useless and damaging. Where was the consideration of the population level use of safe and effective medical therapies such as hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, vitamin C & D, zinc and anti-oxidant support for the immune system? What happened to natural immunity and it’s role in herd immunity? Where was the discussion about the unsuitability of the PCR test in the clinical setting? The protagonists vision of complete centralised control is quite terrifying. A medical tyrannical state. We must remember that the overall survival rate from cv in the general population is 99.7% (with higher mortality rates in high risk groups such as the elderly and younger people with co-morbidities) - so what is the need to test asymptomatic people and enforce strategies which has ruined the lives of children and working age people who are at low risk of hospitalisation and death? Scary people, we must be in guard against them in the next round.

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It was too paused and read like a children’s book. I liked the story, found it interesting but I also felt it jumped a lot without notice.

Didnt love the narration

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Good story, pity about the narration, Worst narrated book I have heard. Won't be buying anymore she narrates

Narration was boring

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After listening to the first chapter of this book on Michael’s podcast I set out to download it straight away. I started listening and had to double check that I had downloaded the correct title. The narration of this book was very disappointing, particularly after hearing Michael Lewis read the first chapter.

The story itself is very well written and keeps you listening for what is happening next. It still a very worthy listen/ read. After a while you become used to the drone of the voice and just accept it.

Great story, Poor narration

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Not Lewis, sure, but still listenable.
The pandemic modelling on U.S.A. school density and transportation makes far more sense on why schools were closed on the assumption that children would be better vectors of disease than adults as is often the case with colds and influenza. Australian schools are not quite the same, but also, while SARS-CoV-2 isn't spread like influenza, it makes far more sense why schools were closed. It also explains why they will be closed next influenza pandemic.

At 1.5 speed, the narration is lovely.

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