Journal of the Plague Years

<p><strong>In this powerful collection of personal journal entries a writer at the height of his powers responds to the fear and uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic in real time.</strong></p><p></p><p>In March of 2020 John Rember was scheduled to go on tour for his latest book. Covid-19 intervened. In the following years 1.2 million people died of Covid in the United States. Global deaths exceeded 7 million. A world one secure predictable and safe had disappeared forever.</p><p></p><p>Quarantining in Idaho's Sawtooth Valley Rember and his wife Julie went hiking and during the snowy months backcountry skiing. They cooked gourmet dinners for two. They had a well-stocked woodpile an Internet connection and enough unread books to last a non-pandemic-shortened lifetime.</p><p></p><p>It was idyllic. Fearful. A touch claustrophobic. They had no idea if they would see another year.</p><p></p><p>Still the times needed a witness. <em>End Notes</em> records warmth in the face of cold pandemic statistics dark humor in the face of death and a penetrating honesty in the face of a consensus reality addicted to denial. Written at a time near the end of this country's history the three volumes of <em>Journal of the Plague Years</em> offer a primary source for historians of the future should there be any.</p>