LESSONS FROM A CATASTROPHE
It’s a reliable rule of journalism that the bigger the story, the bigger the journalist. There hasn’t been a larger global story in recent years than the Covid pandemic. And there aren’t many more successful journalist-authors than Michael Lewis and Lawrence Wright.
Lewis is the author of a host of bestselling books, including Moneyball and The Big Short, both of which were turned into Oscar-nominated films. Wright is the author of The Looming Tower, the finest and most far-reaching book written on what led to the 9/11 attacks on the United States, which was turned into a popular TV drama.
It’s no surprise to learn that the two Americans have focused on the pandemic’s effect on the US, where more than 600,000 people have died. What’s notable is the divergent approaches they’ve adopted.
Lewis has taken a leaf out of The Big Short, which examined the financial crisis of 2008 by looking at the people who predicted and profited from it. He does a similar thing with his aptly named The Premonition, by tracking down those American experts whose warnings were ignored. Aft er all, in the 2019 Global Health Security Index, the US was ranked No 1 in the world for preparedness for a pandemic (New Zealand was ranked 35th).
By contrast, Wright broadens the story and
