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(More customer reviews)Molly Caldwell Crosby's "Asleep," traces a strange malady whose origins are shrouded in mystery. Encephalitis lethargica ("a swelling of the brain that makes one sleepy") "came in two waves--the first began in 1916 and peaked in 1920." A second wave struck in 1924. Today, few people remember this scourge that killed closed to a million people all over the world. One of the victims was Crosby's grandmother, Virginia Thompson Brownlee, who became ill in 1929 at the age of sixteen but was fortunate enough to survive with limited long-term effects. Tragically, many of the afflicted were children and young adults whose brains were not yet fully developed; they were not all equipped, physically or emotionally, to battle this destructive illness.
Although the symptoms of encephalitis lethargica varied from one individual to the next, some of the manifestations were: disconnectedness from one's body, lethargy, delirium, slurred speech, stiffness, seizures, tics, Parkinsonism, and extreme personality changes. Some people became catatonic or went into a deep sleep for long periods of time. Around one third recovered, one third died, and one third survived. However, some became so disabled that they were permanently institutionalized. One common thread is that many of the sufferers had recovered from the flu before they came down with encephalitis lethargica. Even those who appeared to have recovered fully were vulnerable to recurrences years later. It was almost as if a demon lay dormant in their bodies, only to reemerge when they least expected it.
Crosby divides her book into seven chapters, each of which recounts a compelling case history, including that of Jessie Morgan, the wife of financier J. P. Morgan. The author brings her subject to life not only by delving into the experiences of individual victims, but also by exploring the careers of prominent physicians who cared for patients with this ailment. Enhancing the narrative are richly described details of the social, cultural, medical, and political climate that served as a backdrop for the pandemic. Crosby puts encephalitis lethargica in context as she recounts the horrors of World War I, the influenza outbreak that killed more than twenty million people, the building boom in New York City, the amazing technological developments of the 1920's, the Stock Market Crash, the Great Depression, advances in neuropsychiatry, epidemiology, and public health, and the construction of new facilities to house the mentally ill.
Theories abound, but to this day no one knows what causes encephalitis lethargica. Oliver Sacks, the renowned writer and neurologist who wrote about his work with encephalitis patients in "Awakenings," asserts that "this strange, often terrible disease is not extinct, only quiescent. It may well strike again in our lifetimes." "Asleep" reads like a riveting novel that one wishes were merely a nightmare invented by an imaginative writer. Unfortunately, it is all too real. Crosby's facts are meticulously documented; she includes photographs, extensive endnotes, a lengthy bibliography, and a thorough index. This is a beautifully written, lucid, multilayered, and unforgettable work of non-fiction.
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