{"product_id":"the-rationing-9780393867589","title":"The Rationing","description":"\u003cp\u003eAmerica is in trouble--at the mercy of a puzzling pathogen. That ordinarily wouldn't lead to catastrophe, thanks to modern medicine, but there's just one problem: the government supply of Dormigen, the silver bullet of pharmaceuticals, has been depleted just as demand begins to spike. Originally published before the COVID-19 pandemic, \u003cem\u003eThe Rationing\u003c\/em\u003e is set in the near future, and centers around a White House struggling to quell the crisis--and control the narrative. Working together, just barely, are a savvy but preoccupied president; a Speaker more interested in jockeying for position--and a potential presidential bid--than attending to the minutiae of disease control; a patriotic majority leader unable to differentiate a virus from a bacterium; a strategist with brilliant analytical abilities but abominable people skills; and, improbably, our narrator, a low-level scientist with the National Institutes of Health who happens to be the world's leading expert in lurking viruses.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLittle goes according to plan during the three weeks necessary to replenish the stocks of Dormigen. Some Americans will get the life-saving drug and others will not, and nations with their own supply soon offer aid--but for a price. China senses blood and a geopolitical victory, presenting a laundry list of demands that ranges from complete domination of the South China Sea to additional parking spaces at the UN, while India claims it can save the day for the U.S.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePolitical backstabbing, rank hypocrisy, and dastardly deception reign in this delightfully entertaining debut that presciently anticipated the COVID-19 crisis.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e W. W. Norton \u0026amp; Company\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/29\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780393867589\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 432","brand":"Charles Wheelan","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40139152523445,"sku":"9780393867589","price":14.41,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_9b9b83c6-b4f4-496e-b7f1-9f357dbecdbb.jpg?v=1622520098","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-rationing-9780393867589","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}