🧬 Book Review: When Things Go Wrong: Diseases by Bill Bryson (Kindle Edition, A Vintage Short from The Body)
A witty, accessible, and surprisingly sobering look at the mysteries of disease—Bill Bryson distills the complexity of human illness into a short, engaging essay that’s equal parts science and storytelling.
🧠 Overview
Published in April 2020, When Things Go Wrong: Diseases is a 28-page excerpt from Bryson’s bestselling book The Body: A Guide for Occupants. This standalone edition focuses specifically on the chapter dealing with diseases, offering readers a compact yet illuminating tour through the strange, unpredictable world of human illness.
Bryson explores everything from mysterious outbreaks like Akureyri disease in Iceland to historical plagues such as sweating sickness, which ravaged England in the 15th century and then vanished without explanation. With his trademark humor and clarity, Bryson examines how diseases spread, why some disappear, and how little we still understand about many of them.
🧪 Key Themes & Highlights
- 🦠 Mystery and unpredictability: Bryson emphasizes how many diseases remain unexplained, even in modern medicine
- 📜 Historical oddities: From West Nile virus to the baffling sweating sickness, the essay is rich with strange medical lore
- 🧠 Accessible science: Bryson breaks down complex epidemiological concepts with clarity and wit
- 💬 Memorable quotes: “Infectious diseases, as you will gather, are curious things,” he writes, capturing the tone of scientific wonder and caution
💬 Reader Reception
- ⭐ Goodreads rating: 4.20/5 from over 300 ratings
- 📖 Readers praise Bryson’s ability to make science engaging and digestible, even for non-experts
- 🧾 Some note that while the essay is short, it’s packed with fascinating facts and historical anecdotes
- 💬 “Bryson’s writing is always a joy—this chapter is both informative and oddly comforting in its honesty about how little we know.” — Goodreads reviewer
⚠️ Considerations
- 📄 Short format: At 28 pages, it’s a quick read—best approached as a sample of Bryson’s broader work
- 📚 Excerpted content: This essay is taken directly from The Body, so readers looking for more depth may prefer the full book
- 🧬 No medical advice: While informative, the essay is not a guide to treatment or diagnosis—purely educational and narrative
🏁 Final Verdict
When Things Go Wrong: Diseases is a smart, concise, and entertaining read that showcases Bill Bryson’s gift for turning complex science into compelling storytelling. Whether you’re curious about the quirks of disease or just want a taste of The Body, this Kindle edition is a great way to dive into Bryson’s world of wonder and inquiry.
