On Call
A Doctor's Journey in Public Service
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4.4 • 230 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
#1 New York Times Bestseller
The memoir by the doctor who became a beacon of hope for millions through the COVID pandemic, and whose six-decade career in high-level public service put him in the room with seven presidents
“An eventful autobiography [and] a classic American story…Gripping.”—The Washington Post
“One of the most consequential and most prominent [careers] in American medicine in the past fifty years.”—Jerome Groopman, The New Yorker
Anthony Fauci is arguably the most famous – and most revered – doctor in the world today. His role guiding America sanely and calmly through Covid (and through the torrents of Trump) earned him the trust of millions during one of the most terrifying periods in modern American history, but this was only the most recent of the global epidemics in which Dr. Fauci played a major role. His crucial role in researching HIV and bringing AIDS into sympathetic public view and his leadership in navigating the Ebola, SARS, West Nile, and anthrax crises, make him truly an American hero.
His memoir reaches back to his boyhood in Brooklyn, New York, and carries through decades of caring for critically ill patients, navigating the whirlpools of Washington politics, and behind-the-scenes advising and negotiating with seven presidents on key issues from global AIDS relief to infectious disease preparedness at home. ON CALL will be an inspiration for readers who admire and are grateful to him and for those who want to emulate him in public service. He is the embodiment of “speaking truth to power,” with dignity and results.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, debuts with a revealing, if restrained, look back on his career in public service. Readers hoping Fauci would return fire against those who turned him into a political punching bag will largely be disappointed; he remains impressively even-keeled (if sharply critical) throughout the passages devoted to the Covid-19 pandemic, delivering a candid portrayal of the Trump administration's erratic, highly politicized approach to the coronavirus, which led to Fauci getting death threats, including a dramatic anthrax scare. The book's most gripping and personal section recounts the devastating AIDS crisis and Fauci's "complex" relationship with activist and playwright Larry Kramer, who once labeled Fauci a "murderer" in an op-ed (the two famously found a way to work together toward their common goal, and became close friends). Infusing the narrative with tender details from his private life (he starred on the basketball court at New York City's prestigious Regis High School, lost his mother to cancer while in medical school, and met his wife, Christine, in the trenches of the AIDS fight), Fauci closes with an urgent warning about what has him worried today: an "impending... crisis of truth" that will make disasters like pandemics "so much worse." It's a rich account of a life dedicated to keeping Americans safe.
Customer Reviews
One of great books about who dedicated to the public health.
Author’s dedicated life into the public health was really amazing and impressive.
On Call
It is a fabulous book! It was so interesting to read about the history of devastating illnesses and the politics involved. He responded with much grace to the challenges, and with total dedication to the work.
Admiration from a Grateful Fan
To use one of Dr Fauci’s phrases: You can’t make this stuff up. An incredible read about an incredible person’s life journey. Thanks for sharing it.