Get Well Soon
History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them
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Get Well Soon
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Narrated by:
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Gabra Zackman
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Written by:
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Jennifer Wright
About this listen
A witty, irreverent tour of history's worst plagues - from the Antonine Plague, to leprosy, to polio - and a celebration of the heroes who fought them.
In 1518, in a small town in Alsace, Frau Troffea began dancing and didn't stop. She danced until she was carried away six days later, and soon 34 more villagers joined her. Then more. In a month more than 400 people had been stricken by the mysterious dancing plague. In late-19th-century England an eccentric gentleman founded the No Nose Club in his gracious townhome - a social club for those who had lost their noses, and other body parts, to the plague of syphilis for which there was then no cure. And in turn-of-the-century New York, an Irish cook caused two lethal outbreaks of typhoid fever, a case that transformed her into the notorious Typhoid Mary.
Throughout time, humans have been terrified and fascinated by the diseases history and circumstance have dropped on them. Some of their responses to those outbreaks are almost too strange to believe in hindsight. Get Well Soon delivers the gruesome, morbid details of some of the worst plagues we've suffered as a species, as well as stories of the heroic figures who selflessly fought to ease the suffering of their fellow man. With her signature mix of in-depth research and storytelling, and not a little dark humor, Jennifer Wright explores history's most gripping and deadly outbreaks, and ultimately looks at the surprising ways they've shaped history and humanity for almost as long as anyone can remember.
©2017 Jennifer Wright (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.You may also enjoy...
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- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Oliver Sacks - introduction
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 215
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 174
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 175
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Unexpectedly good!
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- Length: 8 hrs
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 114
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 98
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 14
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What listeners say about Get Well Soon
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Renee
- 2018-10-21
Makes terrible history ultimately enlightening
Humorous but doesn’t pull any punches. Learned a lot I didn’t know but was also reminded of how important it is to know history so we do not repeat it. Truly brilliant read.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Brittany
- 2024-05-02
multiple listen throughs
enjoyed listening to this book. it is easy to jump from chapter to chapter without feeling like you're missing anything. I've listened to this book more than two times and still enjoy it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Olivia
- 2018-08-09
Enlightening and Fascinating
A very thoroughly researched book. I learned a lot I hadn't known, and the little bits of humour helped with the very serious and dark material. #Audible1
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Steven
- 2022-10-06
Fantastic Book
The author conveyed some fascinating facts about plagues of the past in an entertaining yet meaningful way. I found this book very easy to listen to and to be engaged in. A great overview of the plagues with an emphasis on the political and social reactions to the crisis.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- David Macfarlane
- 2020-03-24
Worth Reading
Jennifer Wright tackles the topic of disease with an odd but very enjoyable tone of sobering sarcasting humour. This book was certainly enjoyable from beginning to end. Her research is very well done, and she does an excellent job making the history accessible. At times she does fall into easy "myths" with suspect accuracy, and at times can be trite in her moralizing, but there is a lot of value in what she has put forward in her book. I just wish she had also covered the Justinian Plague as she sweeps through the ancient world very abruptly where all of the worst plagues reside.
With the COVID-19 pandemic raging now, this is especially relevant reading.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Derek L.
- 2021-05-17
Lots of fun facts
As dark as the subject matter is, I found this book very fun as well as enlightening. And weirdly bizarre as we go into dealing with covid.
I totally will recommend those book. Thanks to the author for writing this.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Maggie Rose
- 2020-05-11
Amazing, Timely Book During COVID-19
This book goes through the great plagues of human history in an informative, entertaining way, which can be a guide for our current time. Brilliant!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Leslie Arnott
- 2018-11-22
Fantastic book!
What a fabulous entertaining way to learn about the worst plagues in history. Jennifer Wright is an engaging writer and I definitely recommend this to anyone.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Chrismansell
- 2019-03-04
Seems almost wrong...
I can honestly say that hearing about death has never been so fun. It's such an odd subject to add humor to, but the stories told could leave a person very depressed if humor wasn't present. There's also some very good points made towards the end regarding the state of health care today and possible future plagues.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- PCR
- 2018-11-05
Satirical and opinionated, really enjoyed ...
I enjoyed being educated and amused, while sometimes grossed out. Science infotainment(?) at its best.
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