The Puzzle Solver: A Scientist's Desperate Quest to Cure the Illness That Stole His Son

"A renowned geneticist races against time to diagnose a malady that landed at his door... A complex, well-related story of medical detective work." --KIRKUS
At the age of twenty-seven, Whitney Dafoe was forced to give up his life as a photographer who traveled the world. Bit by bit a mysterious illness stole away the pieces of his life: First, it took the strength of his legs, then his voice, and his ability to eat. Finally, even the sound of a footstep in his room became unbearable. The Puzzle Solver follows several years in which he desperately sought answers from specialist after specialist, where at one point his 6'3" frame dropped to 115 lbs. For years, he underwent endless medical tests, but doctors told him there was nothing wrong. Then, finally, a diagnosis: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis.

In the 80s, when an outbreak of people immobilized by an indescribable fatigue were reported near Lake Tahoe, Nevada, doctors were at a loss to explain the symptoms. The condition would alternatively be nicknamed Raggedy Ann Syndrome or the Yuppie Disease, and there was no cure or answers about treatment. They were to remain sick.

But there was one answer: Whitney's father, Ron Davis, PhD, a world-class geneticist at Stanford University whose legendary research helped crack the code of DNA, suddenly changed the course of his career in a race against time to cure his son's debilitating condition.

In The Puzzle Solver, journalist Tracie White, who first wrote a viral and award-winning piece on Davis and his family in Stanford Medicine, tells his story. In gripping prose, she masterfully takes readers along on this journey with Davis to solve one of the greatest mysteries in medicine. In a piercing investigative narrative, closed doors are opened, and masked truths are exposed as Davis uncovers new proof confirming that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a biological disease.

At the heart of this book is a moving story that goes far beyond medicine, this is a story about how the power of love -- and science -- can shine light in even the darkest, most hidden, corners of the world.

Author: Tracie White
Publisher: Legacy Lit
Published: 01/05/2021
Pages: 240
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.30w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9780316492508


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 09/01/2020 pg. 45
Kirkus Reviews 12/01/2020
Publishers Weekly 12/07/2020
Library Journal 01/01/2021 pg. 90
Booklist 01/01/2021 pg. 22

About the Author
Tracie White is an award-winning journalist and a science writer for Stanford University. Her work, which has garnered 23 writing awards, has also appeared in Salon, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and more. She graduated from UC Berkley and has a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University. She lives in Aptos, California.

Ronald W. Davis, PhD, has been called one of the world's greatest living inventors by the Atlantic. He is a professor of Biochemistry and Genetics at Stanford University and director of the Stanford Genome Technology Center. He has won numerous awards for his research, including the Gruber Prize in genetics for his groundbreaking contributions to the field of genomics. He now is devoted to finding a cure for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).