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"On Call: A Doctor's Journey in Public Service" is a memoir of a dedicated disease specialist who guided the United States through several alarming global epidemics. Dr. Anthony Fauci chronicles his role in researching HIV, creating a sympathetic public view toward AIDS, and providing leadership as scientists throughout the world conducted countless trials to find cures for Ebola, SARS, West Nile, anthrax exposure, and COVID-19.
His life history begins with his early childhood in Brooklyn, New York. Born on Christmas Eve, 1942, to Italian immigrants, Fauci recollects the "extraordinarily soothing" sounds of foghorns in the nearby bay and his mother's tears as she read about the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
His father was a pharmacist, for whom Anthony occasionally delivered prescriptions on his Schwinn bicycle. He attended Regis, the elite Jesuit high school in Manhattan, where he was captain of the basketball team despite being 5’ 7” tall. He attended the College of the Holy Cross, spending his summers working for a construction company. His mother died of cancer at 56, and at about the same time, Fauci graduated first in his class at Cornell Medical School.
Fauci’s memoir sharpens as he describes his 38-year career as the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director. Decade by decade, he depicts his care for critically ill patients while simultaneously fending off accusations of fearmongering by Washington politicians and finessing ways to advise seven presidents on threatening health crises from AIDS relief to COVID.
Fauci goes head-to-head with some of his high-profile detractors. In the AIDS crisis, Larry Kramer, the writer and activist, in an open letter to the San Francisco Examiner, called the doctor a "murderer" for not moving more quickly to find a cure for the disease. Kramer's hot-headed criticism of the composed Fauci was a foretelling of Donald Trump's berating of Fauci. Former President Trump would tell Fauci he "loved" him, then vilify him on Twitter if the stock market indices did not increase after encouraging medical news. Yet Fauci responded with dignity and science to the denigrations and betrayals.
"On Call" is told in an even, honest tone. It is recommended for anyone interested in public health. The memoir illustrates both the challenges of dealing with epidemic deniers and the value of governments in addressing public health threats. Despite politicians' ready acceptance of poor science and lies and widespread criticism for lockdowns and school closures, Fauci remained constrained and kept his eyes on the finish line of seeking compassionate ways to help sick patients.
At the end of his reflection, Fauci laments, "We are living in an era in which information that is patently untrue gets repeated enough times that it becomes part of our everyday dialogue and starts to sound true." His final statement in the book is a warning that in a medical crisis, the public needs to vet the source of their information.
"On Call" includes an extensive folio of photographs recounting the doctor's personal and professional life.
About the author: Dr. Anthony Fauci served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health from 1984 to 2022 and as President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser. He is currently a distinguished university professor at Georgetown University with a joint appointment in the School of Medicine and the McCourt School of Public Policy.
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