I agree the current situation wouldn't make very compelling fiction. > A pandemic story like that would be similar to what’s known as an “idiot plot,” a plot t

I agree the current situation wouldn't make very compelling fiction. > A pandemic story like that would be similar to what’s known as an “idiot plot,” a plot that would be resolved very quickly if your protagonist weren’t an idiot. What we’re living through is only partly a disaster novel; it’s also—and perhaps mostly—a grotesque political satire.