March 2, 2010: That’s the official publication date for Memphian Molly Caldwell Crosby’s latest book, Asleep (Berkley). It comes after Crosby’s critically acclaimed The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic That Shaped Our History. And Asleep comes with its own explanatory subtitle: The Forgotten Epidemic That Remains One of Medicine’s Greatest Mysteries.
The epidemic was encephalitis lethargica, a brain disorder, which in the first half of the 20th century afflicted millions, from Europe to the U.S. No less an authority than Oliver Sacks, who wrote on the disease in his book Awakenings, has called Asleep “a brilliant, deeply moving account” of the patients who suffered from encephalitis and the doctors who sought to cure it.
Meet Molly Caldwell Crosby when she discusses and signs Asleep at Davis-Kidd Booksellers in Memphis on Tuesday, March 2nd, at 6 p.m. Questions? Call the store at 901-683-9801. For more on Asleep and its author, see the March issue of Memphis magazine.
