Join us on Thursday, October 6th, at 7 PM for a reading and book signing with author David Quammen from his newest book Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus.

Bestselling science writer David Quammen has been lauded as “One of that rare breed of science journalists who blends exploration with a talent for synthesis and storytelling.” With his new book, Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus (October 4, 2022 / Simon & Schuster), Quammen tells the story of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a distinct difference from other works on this topic. Breathless is the story of the virus itself—its murky origins, its fast evolution, and its fierce journey through the human population as scientists across the globe raced to understand the virus, contain it, and fight its spread.


Based on interviews with nearly one hundred scientists – including leading virologists in China and around the world – Breathless is a masterwork of storytelling that takes readers inside the frantic international effort to understand and control SARS-CoV-2, as if we were peering over the shoulders of the brilliant scientists who led the chase. Including new interviews with scientists and experts – from Anthony Fauci to George Gao (director of the China CDC) – Quammen offers a globetrotting “scientific detective story.”