Bad Bugs Bookclub Reading Guide: Nemesis by Philip Roth

The aim of the Bad Bugs Book Club is to get people interested in science, specifically microbiology, by reading books (novels) in which infectious disease forms some part of the story. We also try to associate books, where possible, with some other activity or event, to widen interest, and to broaden impact.

We have established a fairly fluid membership of our bookclub through our website In The Loop ( but we hope to encourage others to join, to set up their own bookclub, suggest books and accompanying activities to us, and give feedback about the books that they have read, using our website as the focus for communication.

Our bookclub comprises both microbiologists and members of the general public. We felt that this would encourage some discussion on the science – accuracy, impact etc – as well as about the book.

‘Nemesis’ (2010)describes an outbreak of polio in a Jewish area of Newark New Jersey in 1944. The story is written in 1971, narrated by a child who was affected during the outbreak. The child in turn describes the impact of the events in the life of Bucky Cantor, the school playground instructor.

  1. Did you like the book?
  2. What was your impression of the main character, Bucky Cantor?
  3. Bucky seems unable to accept any good fortune in his life. Why do you think this is the case?
  4. How did the other characters impact on the development of the story? How did their personalities contrast with or complement Bucky’s?
  5. Philip Roth is an award-winning American author. Is this book typical of his stories?
  6. What do you know about polio? Symptoms, epidemiology/history, transmission, treatment, prevention etc.
  7. What ideas did the characters in the novel have about the transmission of polio? How was this fear of the invisible unknown interpreted with regards to transmission routes? What other battles (of any kind) were being fought at the time?
  8. What is the current global situation regarding polio control?
  9. Polio is successfully prevented by a vaccine. Is polio one of the best examples of successful vaccine development? What other diseases are prevented/eradicated by vaccines?
  10. What different types of vaccines are available? Which type(s) of vaccine is used against polio?
  11. What diseases have you been immunised against?
  12. What do you know about post-polio syndrome?
  13. Do you think you could trace the epidemiology of this particular outbreak as it affected Bucky? Do you think he was the Typhoid Mary? (who was Typhoid Mary?) Do you think it matters whether or not he was the ‘cause’?

Joanna Verran