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Rating: 
Summary: Captivating
Review: Dr. Nagami tells a facinating story. Her knowledge in the area of infectious disease if vast and her ability to tell the stories behind each disease is a true gift. The people in this book were brought to life with her page-turning prose and she made difficult and complex diseases easy to understand.When I started to read this book I had no idea that I would not be able to put it down. Several hours later, bleary-eyed, I finished and knew that I had found a terrific holiday gift for several of my friends. I have the book sitting in my living room and many people have picked it up, started reading and asked if they could borrow it. This book is a facinating must-read.
Rating:
Summary: This one will amaze you!
Review: I recently finished this book and found myself wishing that there was more to it; I enjoyed it that much! It is always good to find a book that engages my interest in infectious diseases without being too scholarly (I'm not a doctor) or too simplified for the masses (I am, however, very intelligent). "Maneater" is exactly that kind of book -- it hits all the right notes -- neither too smart nor too dumbed down. I will admit to thoroughly enjoying being "grossed out" by my reading material, but to my surprise, I found that Dr. Nagami has also injected quite a lot of humor, pathos and compassion into her book. Yes, the book made me swear to never forget my shots before going to the tropics and to always eat properly cooked food (no raw cobra hearts for me!). But it also made me realize how lucky we are to have people like Dr. Nagami, who are brilliant yet always aware of their humanity and faults and who are capable of incredible compassion in the face of so much pain. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has an interest in infectious disease, whether you're an expert or a novice. One person complained that he wanted a more scholarly approach and that this book is worthless to him. Well, perhaps "Maneater" isn't a medical text on tropical disease, but it does hold valuable lessons for physicians on how to treat patients-- and I don't just mean with medicines. This book is a very enjoyable, fast read that excites, grosses you out and makes you all too aware of how close we all are to getting something very deadly. If I ever catch one of these diseases or wind up with worms in my brain, I hope I have someone as good as Dr. Nagami treating me!
Rating:
Summary: This one will amaze you!
Review: I recently finished this book and found myself wishing that there was more to it; I enjoyed it that much! It is always good to find a book that engages my interest in infectious diseases without being too scholarly (I'm not a doctor) or too simplified for the masses (I am, however, very intelligent). "Maneater" is exactly that kind of book -- it hits all the right notes -- neither too smart nor too dumbed down. I will admit to thoroughly enjoying being "grossed out" by my reading material, but to my surprise, I found that Dr. Nagami has also injected quite a lot of humor, pathos and compassion into her book. Yes, the book made me swear to never forget my shots before going to the tropics and to always eat properly cooked food (no raw cobra hearts for me!). But it also made me realize how lucky we are to have people like Dr. Nagami, who are brilliant yet always aware of their humanity and faults and who are capable of incredible compassion in the face of so much pain. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has an interest in infectious disease, whether you're an expert or a novice. One person complained that he wanted a more scholarly approach and that this book is worthless to him. Well, perhaps "Maneater" isn't a medical text on tropical disease, but it does hold valuable lessons for physicians on how to treat patients-- and I don't just mean with medicines. This book is a very enjoyable, fast read that excites, grosses you out and makes you all too aware of how close we all are to getting something very deadly. If I ever catch one of these diseases or wind up with worms in my brain, I hope I have someone as good as Dr. Nagami treating me!
Rating: 
Summary: Really, wow, hohum.
Review: I'm sorry but three stars is as high as I can rate this book by Dr. Nagami. Give it an extra star if you're a fan of the TV medical shows but honestly it reads very much like a diary and quite frankly I find it difficult to believe all this state of the art Medical wisdom is alive and well at a H.M.O. no less. I admit being impressed by the degree of empathy emoted by Dr. Nagami but I also have to assume there was a mountain of manipulation done to make the book readable.
Rating: 
Summary: ignorance is bliss or is it?
Review: I've been listening to the audio version of this book and find it facinating. The narrator does an excellent job. I haven't a medical background and was never drawn to this sort of topic, actually it usually gave me the creeps, but I'm in a college biology class and its peaked my interest of bugs,germs,worms, infectious diseases. This is such a good book! I've learned a great deal with concerns to the environment around me and precautions we all should apply to keep ourselves from illness. Many of these portrayals leave me to question just why our public health hasn't already given us this information. are they so afraid of a panic, we could all benefit if they would. I didn't know about the south west's coyxx (?sp.) season between thanksgiving and xmas when the dust blows these organisms into the air and its potential effects. Or just how important it is to be sure your food is well cooked especially when eating out or with travel. This book does a really good job of explaining,and informing without creating a phobic reaction from its readers. It just brings about a great awareness of things many of us just had no idea of. Looking forward to more of the doctor's publications.
Rating:
Summary: Fans of Oliver Sacks will like this
Review: If you like medicine and the human condition but never really wanted to be a doctor, this is a book you will enjoy. Pamela Nagami is an infectious disease expert and brings her full experience to bear as we see in each of the mini cases she writes about in this book.
If you enjoy Oliver Sacks' books such as "Awakenings" or "The Island of the Color Blind", you will enjoy Pamela Nagami. Dr. Nagami also has a newer book out "Bitten: True Medical Stories of Bites and Stings" that is equally as compelling.
Rating:
Summary: Wow! What a page turner!
Review: My girlfriend gave me this book because of my interest in medicine. I expected to find a dry account of several cases of diseases, but what I got instead was a gripping account of one inspirational doctor's career in the dangerous field of infectious diseases. Dr. Nagami not only lets you inside her field, but also inside her head as you read what it is like to make life-and-death decisions on a daily basis. The tales were shocking, but also extremely informative and exciting. This reads almost like a detective novel, with Dr. Nagami searching for the invaders that are ruining her patients' bodies. An overall excellent book that will keep you entertained for hours.
Rating:
Summary: I've learned so much from Dr. Nagami
Review: OK, first my prejudice--I am a resident physician working in the hospital where Dr. Nagami spends most of her professional time in recent years. She volunteers her time to teach me and my colleagues about infectious disease as well as her other specialties, internal medicine and geriatrics. She is brilliant in every way a resident would like an attending to be--knowledgable, insightful, out-going, pleasant, extraordinarily respectful of everyone around her, funny and overflowing with stories of her invaluable experiences. That said I love her book. It helps that I recognize many of the characters. It helps, too, that I can hear her voice as I read it (partly because she has read excerpts to us on rounds). It is, nonetheless, an inspiring, touching, and, yes, educational work. Oh, and even though physicians who read it will find it educational that does not mean that it is in any way outside comprehension of other readers. I was tempted to skim past some of the short, plain language explanations aimed at the lay reader, but found even those sections to be helpful to the flow of the text. Not condescending, not verbose--just part of the story. This is a wonderful book I would recommend to anyone. Sure it has particular appeal to those with special interest in health-related issues, it is also a pleasant look at humanism and spirituality. Thanks, Dr. Nagami.
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