I was not impressed by this book, particularly by the title. Only a small portion is dedicated to explaining kuru and its causes/effects on the Fore. The rest of the book is an ethnographic description of the life of the Fore, their reaction to kuru, and the ultimate outcome. In short, kuru is a disease of the CNS caused by cannablism (similar to mad cow disease). The studies take place around the '70s, and by then cannablism was on the decline, and resultingly the disease also became rare. This dry read was hard to get through and quite disappointing because of the decieving title. I would not recommend it unless the reader is genuinely interested in learning more about the Fore of New Guinea. It's interesting for a medical anthropologist, but not a casual read.