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Why does a disease that killed only a handful of Americans like ebola provoke panic, but the flu-which kills tens of thousands each year-is dismissed with a yawn? Why is an unarmed young black woman who knocks on a stranger's front door to ask for help after her car breaks down perceived to be so threatening that the stranger shoots her dead? In Jumping at Shadows, Sasha Abramsky sets his sights on America's most dangerous epidemic: irrational fear.In this meditation on the paralyzing terror Americans feel when confronted with something they don't understand-from foreigners to tropical viruses to universal health care-Abramsky delivers an eye-opening analysis of our misconceptions about risk and threats, and how our brains interpret them, both at a neurological level and at a conscious one. What emerges is a journey through a political and cultural landscape that is defined by our fears, which are often misplaced. Ultimately, Abramsky shows that our fears can teach us a great deal about our society, exposing our deeply ingrained racism, classism, xenophobia, and susceptibility to the toxic messages of demagogues.



About the Author

Sasha Abramsky

I was born and raised in the UK, studied politics, philosophy and economics at Balliol College, Oxford, and moved to the US in my early 20s. I have lived and worked in London, New York, and in California. My writings have been published in the Nation magazine, the New Yorker online, the New York Times, Atlantic, Mother Jones, Truthout, Sacramento Magazine, Slate, Salon, and many other publications in the US. In the UK I have written for a number of publications, including the Guardian, the Observer, the Sunday Telegraph, and the New Statesman.Over the past twenty years, I have focused mainly on social justice themes, though have also written book reviews, travel essays, articles on sports and on music, and other areas of life that pique my interest. In addition to the articles that I write, I am also the author of nine books, ranging from books on criminal justice to a memoir about my grandparents, through to my most recent book, a biography of the sportswoman Lottie Dod, titled "Little Wonder: The Fabulous Story of Lottie Dod, the World's First Female Sports Superstar.I live in Sacramento with my wife and kids, and teach writing part-time at the University of California at Davis. When I am not writing, I am traveling -- I have visited somewhere in the region of 50 countries over the years -- playing tennis, skiing, reading, or sitting at my piano playing music.



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