Concussion

October 19, 2015
Part medical whodunit and part biography, this arresting account by Laska (Hidden America) introduces Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist who reluctantly unravels a medical threat that challenges the future of the National Football League. In 2002, Omalu, a forensic neuropathologist working for the Allegheny County coroner’s office, performs an autopsy on former NFL great Mike Webster, who exhibited bizarre behavior and dementia, and concludes that the cause was chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a debilitating brain disease, caused by concussions sustained during football games. Omalu stirs up a hornet’s nest when he testifies about these conclusions in court. At times, Laskas switches the focus to the Nigerian doctor’s overly romanticized views of America or his painful battle with depression, but the book mostly covers his detailed legal wrangling with the NFL monopoly over long-term CTE symptoms and acceptable compensation. The deck is stacked again against any football player taking savage hits in the game, even with the protective helmet, according to Omalu: “On the surface is nothing, but you open the skull and the brain is mush.” Some NFL officials and gridiron vets think the CTE legal aftermath has weakened football’s muscular appeal, but Laskas expertly makes the case for valuing the health of football players over the image of the league, justifying the large cash settlement for damage. This important book is based on a 2009 article Laskas wrote for GQ, as is a forthcoming film. Agent: Elyse Cheney, Elyse Cheney Literary.

October 1, 2015
A maddening, well-constructed tale of medical discovery and corporate coverup, set in morgues, laboratories, courtrooms, and football fields. Nigeria-born Bennet Omalu is perhaps an unlikely hero, a medical doctor board-certified in four areas of pathology, "anatomic, clinical, forensic, and neuropathology," and a well-rounded specialist in death. When his boss, celebrity examiner Cyril Wecht ("in the autopsy business, Wecht was a rock star"), got into trouble for various specimens of publicity-hound overreach, Omalu was there to offer patient, stoical support. The student did not surpass the teacher in flashiness, but Omalu was a rock star all his own in studying the brain to determine a cause of death. Laskas' (Creative Writing/Univ. of Pittsburgh; Hidden America, 2012, etc.) main topic is the horrific injuries wrought to the brains and bodies of football players on the field. Omalu's study of the unfortunate brain of Pittsburgh Steeler Mike Webster, who died in 2002 at 50 of a supposed heart attack, brought new attention to the trauma of concussion. Laskas trades in sportwriter-ese, all staccato delivery full of tough guy-isms and sports cliches: "He had played for fifteen seasons, a warrior's warrior; he played in more games]two hundred twenty]than any other player in Steelers history. Undersized, tough, a big, burly white guy]a Pittsburgh kind of guy]the heart of the best team in history." A little of that goes a long way, but Laskas, a Pittsburgher who first wrote of Omalu and his studies in a story in GQ, does sturdy work in keeping up with a grim story that the NFL most definitely did not want to see aired]not in Omalu's professional publications in medical journals, nor, reportedly, on the big screen in the Will Smith vehicle based on this book. Effectively sobering. Suffice it to say that Pop Warner parents will want to armor their kids from head to toe upon reading it.

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October 15, 2015

Laskas first wrote about Pittsburgh-based forensic pathologist Bennet Omalu in a 2009 GQ article, and here has expanded the story of Omalu's battle with the NFL over football-related brain injuries. Omalu discovered a disease he named Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in 2002, while studying the brain of deceased Hall of Famer Mike Webster. Laskas tells Omalu's life story on a personal basis, even incorporating "passages of introspection" by Omalu to flesh out the re-created scenes for dramatic effect. The author draws a parallel between the governmental corruption that drove Omalu from his native Nigeria to the NFL's response to his discovery; unfortunately, she gives a pass to the grandstanders in the U.S. Congress trying to use the situation to personal political advantage. Although the NFL has attempted to belittle Omalu's work, his publication record in scientific journals gives him clear provenance and authority on the issue. The extent of the league's complicity and prior knowledge of CTE will continue to be studied by lawyers, while other factors potentially related to CTE will be examined by medical researchers in this ongoing story. VERDICT This book spins a provocative tale that is somewhat marred by an overemphasis on peripheral issues related to the trial of Omalu's boss Cyril Wecht, yet it will attract a large audience owing to the upcoming film Concussion starring Will Smith.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 15, 2015
Laskas, director of the writing program at the University of Pittsburgh, explains why repeated blows to the head can leave football players with life- and personality-changing brain damage. She focuses on Bennett Omalu, a brilliant if unheralded Nigeria-born medical examiner who doggedly pursues the disturbing link between football and Alzheimer's-like debilities. Americans started talking seriously about football and concussions in 1992, when Pro Bowl wide receiver Al Toon retired from the New York Jets at 29 because of brain injury. The significant evidence Omalu has gathered reveals that the wildly popular sport, in which helmets do not fully protect brains that bang against skull walls on impact, can cause chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a progressive degenerative disease in people with a history of repetitive head trauma. It all began in 2002, when Omalu examined the brain of Pittsburgh Steeler star Mike Webster, who died at 50. When he published his findings in Neurosurgery, the NFL tried to discredit the article. So dramatic is Omalu's quest, later this year producer Ridley Scott will release a movie version, Concussion, starring Will Smith as Dr. Omalu. If the film is half as good as this book, the multibillion-dollars-a-year NFL will feel some real pressure.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)