Publication DAY!!!!!

An Abundance of Caution is now available!

It feels crazy that I signed a publishing deal with MIT Press four years ago. At the time, I expected it to take me about a year to write the book. Whoops! In reality, it took about three years. (The last year was mostly spent going through rounds of polishing the text and many, many months of waiting—the book publishing industry moves extraordinarily slow.)

In part, the book took years because I wrote many articles during the same period, which took me away from the book (even if some of the work on the articles ultimately found its way into the book in one form or another). But, mainly, I did a lot of research. I read study after study after study. And then I often read the studies that were cited in the original study. And then read the studies that were cited in the studies that were cited by the original study. And on and on. Why did I do this? Because it bothers me not knowing the truth.

An Abundance of Caution takes you on a journey. It goes back in time, recounting the ideas and work of early scientists and philosophers. The book reveals medical triumphs, like how, exactly, in the 1700s, it was discovered that giving British sailors lemons and oranges prevented them from getting scurvy—and how that triumph so many years ago explains much of the policy failures during the Covid pandemic. The book also reveals how our intuitions are often wrong, particularly with medicine and public health: The fact that so many pandemic interventions seemed to many people—including, most of all, the “experts”—like they should work, but actually didn’t, is part of a long history.

Throughout the book threads of media criticism, political science, psychology, sociology, and the foundations of evidence-based medicine are woven together. I wanted to explore: How do we know what is true? And why do we—as a society, and as individuals—make the decisions we make when we have limited information?

Because the book is published by an academic press, it needed to go through peer review. One of the things I’m most proud of and excited about is that both reviewers of the manuscript roughly said: “Zweig takes very complex ideas and makes them accessible and incredibly engaging.”

I think one of the reasons the book has garnered an enthusiastic reaction thus far is that I approach its topic apolitically. I don’t have a political axe to grind or an agenda, other than trying to describe reality, to make my contribution to pulling us one step out of Plato’s cave, away from the shadows and toward the light.

BUY THE BOOK:

If you’re a subscriber to my substack and you haven’t yet ordered the book, now is the time. Seriously, what are you waiting for? Imagine the equivalent of 100 of the best posts I’ve ever written—that’s the book.

You can purchase An Abundance of Caution now at Amazon, and other major online retailers. It (hopefully) is in your favorite local bookstore. If it’s not, demand they order it!

COME TO A LAUNCH EVENT:

I’m doing three major book launch events, in New York, Berkeley, and DC, co-hosted by my friends Jesse Singal, Lee Fang, and Jenin Younes, who each will lead a conversation about the book, followed by a Q&A, and then some partying! New York and DC have SOLD OUT their allotment of tickets that include a copy of the book. And Berkeley has literally 1 ticket left that includes a book. Discounted tickets, that do not include a free book, are on sale now for a limited number of remaining slots.

Get your tickets for:

Berkeley, this Saturday, 4/26, at 3pm!

New York, next Monday, 4/28, at 6pm!

DC, a week from Friday, on 5/2, at 6pm!

Read | Watch | Listen:

If you want a teaser of the book’s contents:

I was on Megyn Kelly’s show yesterday for nearly an hour-long interview.

Here’s a 12-minute clip of the MK interview.

Matt Welch interviewed me on The Fifth Column podcast.

The Free Press and The Atlantic, both ran excerpts.

The Wall Street Journal had a terrific review, as did Town Hall (hard to argue with its title: “David Zweig’s Covid Book Is a Must Read.”)

Author and podcast host Michael Shermer called An Abundance of Caution “Arguably the most important book of the past 5 years.”

Coming up: On Wednesday I’ll be on CNN with Jake Tapper, and on Thursday I’ll be on the CBS Morning Show. Many more podcasts, radio interviews, and other coverage to come.

Later this week I’ll post more of the press on my website: DavidZweig.com

Final Note:

The best way that this book can make a difference is through word of mouth. It also makes for a fantastic Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and graduation gift! Nothing says “I think you are a smart person” like giving someone a 450-page book with hundreds of endnotes! Worst case, even if it’s unread, it’ll look impressive on a bookshelf, or it’ll make for a good doorstop. Please Buy now!

Thank you to everyone for all of your support,

Dave