My answer is no, and from my very “scientific” research, I am not the only one who feels that way.
My very “scientific” research consisted of asking my friends and colleagues, both avid and casual readers, if they would be interested in reading a book about our current pandemic. I was sure one or two people would have loved the idea, but honestly, everyone said no.
Why?
In the beginning of the lockdown, I noticed that a lot of people were watching movies like Contagion and Outbreak. My son reread The Maze Runner because it’s post pandemic and dystopian. But I think people are done with those types of things. It was fun in the beginning because we didn’t know just how much the dictator-in-chief would fuck up the national response. Most didn’t know that the clown we currently call “president” had thrown away the How to Survive a Pandemic guidebook that President Obama had successfully used left him. Most didn’t know that he fired the whole pandemic team at the CDC.
And because of that…
COVID-19 fatigue is real, very real. I work in a hospital as a pharmacy tech, and while I’m not a nurse or doctor treating C-19 + patients, I feel like I’m neck deep in the pandemic every day. While I care so deeply for every life touched by this horrible illness, I am also tired of it, and so are so many of my co-workers. Don’t get me wrong, we are not the crowd who are tired of it and refuse to wear masks or refuse to believe the science behind social distancing and basic hygiene. We are the people who get home from work and don’t want to talk about the positive cases anymore. Home has become the one place I can pretend the world is normal. And books are my escape because nothing is normal.
Pandemic fatigue is why everyone told me they wouldn’t read a work of fiction or even a memoir about COVID-19. I’m sure as time passes more people will be willing to read about these things again, especially if we writers find an interesting way to spin/twist it.
Let me know in the comments if you are wanting to write or read something pandemic related!!
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