The Gilmore Guide to Books

Connecting Books and Readers One Review at a Time

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Reviews
    • Reviews by Author
    • Reviews by Title
    • Reviews by Genre
  • Podcast
  • Policies
    • Review Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Policy

Voices from the Pandemic

September 27, 2021

pandemic

Voices from the Pandemic: Americans Tell Their Stories of Crisis, Courage and Resilience by Eli Saslow
Published by Doubleday Books
Publication date: September 28, 2021
five-stars
Bookshop

Welcome! Today is a bit different at The Gilmore Guide. You’re here to read book reviews, not me pontificating on topics you may not care about. By and large I try and stick to that format. But if you’ve been a longtime supporter of this blog or you know me at all, you have some sense of my views on any number of subjects so this review and my thoughts on Voices from the Pandemic won’t come as a surprise. If you’re not in the mood for opinion, probably best to skip this.

I was hesitant to read Voices from the Pandemic because unlike other historical books we are still in the midst of this crisis. Eli Saslow is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who spent 2020 interviewing people around the country about their COVID experiences. In the book he shares over 30 individual stories beginning in March and ending in January 2021. This timeline encompasses the 2020 election, further heightening emotions. As a journalist Saslow presents all sides of the last 18 months. This is not a partisan COVID or election echo chamber.

Voices from the Pandemic is not easy reading. It’s emotionally brutal. Whether it’s a grocer in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans who starts tabs because his customers no longer have jobs or cars and the buses aren’t running and he’s the only grocer for miles. Or an anesthesiologist who normally works in the delivery room, but is now intubating multiple people in a shift, despite having a pre-existing condition himself. It’s the loved ones left behind, an elderly woman who watches herself go from caring to vitriol…the stories just keep coming. There are those who firmly believe COVID is a hoax to discredit their president because no one they know gets it. Or an Arizona man who rallies people on Facebook to go into stores in groups to harass shoppers wearing masks because they go against his Constitutional rights. There’s a North Carolina retail clerk who is spit on and harassed for trying to enforce the state mandate to wear masks. A coroner in a rural county in Georgia who personally knows 30 of the dead, including six preachers.  A man who loses his family’s restaurant due to the shutdown and questions its effectiveness.

A doctor who explains

You’re trained to be the calmest person in the room. They teach us: Don’t just rely on medication to calm a person. Use your voice, you eye contact, your whole demeanor.

 But wonders how to do that with a body covered in a hazmat suit, a masked mouth, and eyes covered by a shield?

There are the painfully intimate moments of people driving loved ones to the hospital, not being allowed in and never seeing that person alive again. Living in a nursing home and watching as everyone around you—residents and caregivers alike—gets sick, but you can’t leave. There are the feelings of a Dallas man who believed COVID was being overhyped, had six family members to his house, all got it, he ended up in the ER and by October 20 family and friends were infected, with two deaths.

The grief comes in waves but that guilt just sits.

Sadly, we are more divided than before with a minority of people wreaking destruction and pain on the country. I try to understand reasons why a person wouldn’t get vaccinated, but when it comes to wearing a mask I’m out of understanding. By and large this is disgusting politics fed on misinformation, conspiracy theory, and fear mongering. It’s unchristian and incredibly selfish. Not to mention the hypocrisy of those who scream it’s their body and their right to do as they choose, but are just as vocal that a woman has no right to choose what happens to her body. I’ll stop now.

This is shocking reading, as it should be, but it’s not sensationalistic. Saslow treats each viewpoint and story with respect, allowing the release of the full range of human emotion. COVID was a blow to every aspect of this country—economic, social, physical, psychological, religious, and political—and it’s not done with us yet. It is the greatest tragedy in American history and reading the stories in Voices from the Pandemic is important and necessary if we’re going to learn from this dark chapter.

 

If you’d like more outstanding nonfiction about critical events in American history I’d highly recommend The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett Graff

This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on a link and make a purchase of any kind, I get a small commission (at no cost to you).

 

*I received a free copy of this book from Doubleday Books in exchange for an honest review.*

 

 

 

five-stars

Related Posts

  • Related Posts
  • 5 Star Books
  • By Eli Saslow
Helga’s Diary
paper
The Paper Palace
lake house
The Lake House
americanah
Americanah
dead wake
Dead Wake
miniaturist
The Miniaturist: A Novel
missing
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
an untamed state
An Untamed State
evelyn hardcastle
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
neverhome
Neverhome: A Novel
underrated
2021 Underrated Gems

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: book clubs, history, memoir

Comments

  1. Ellison says

    September 27, 2021 at 6:51 am

    Thank you, Catherine. I think you echo the feelings and frustrations of many of us.

    I’ve been hesitant to pick this one up but hope to put on my big girl panties and take the leap.

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      September 29, 2021 at 11:15 am

      Ellison! So lovely to see you here. Not easy or fun reading, but worth it.

      Reply
  2. Lisa of Lisa's Yarns says

    September 27, 2021 at 9:01 am

    Bravo – well said! I would like to read this book, but maybe in a couple of years when I’m less frustrated or prone to anger? Hopefully I will get to that point? I’m thankful to live in a state w/ a high vaccination rate and in an area of that state (Minneapolis) where I would NEVER be harassed for wearing a mask. The selfishness our nation has shown is so embarrassing. This book sounds really well-done, though.

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      September 29, 2021 at 11:18 am

      The anger is a tough one. I’ve been called a Nazi and a sheep here in Michigan. It’s tiring. We should be better than this, but we’re not and I don’t have much hope for it changing.

      Reply
  3. susan says

    September 27, 2021 at 9:01 am

    It sounds like essential reading for everyone. But I’m so mad at anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers and conspiracy nuts that I wonder if I’d be too angry with parts of it. But I guess we have to read about how these folks are really causing havoc with society & think what to do … Grrrrr
    Are we at our wit’s end yet … or will that come in Year 3?!

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      September 29, 2021 at 11:19 am

      The stories from anti-maskers are hard. I’m not sure I got an appreciation for where they’re coming from. Or maybe I just don’t care anymore. My wits are long gone…

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Goodreads
  • Instagram

Save time and subscribe via email

No time to keep checking for new reviews? Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new posts by email. No spam!

Bookshop

Currently Reading

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
by Emily Nagoski
The Dutch House
The Dutch House
by Ann Patchett
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
by Adrienne Brodeur

goodreads.com

Affiliate Disclosure

I’m an affiliate for Bookshop. If you click on a link that takes you to their site and make a purchase I’ll earn a small fee, which goes towards the costs of maintaining this site. Your support is appreciated. Thank you!

Archives

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.

Theme Design By Studio Mommy · Copyright © 2025

Copyright © 2025 · Beyond Madison Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in