A timely call to attention to a global health problem, but with no real solutions in sight.
The story of “where attitudes about chronic illness came from, and where they stand today.”
Edwards, chronically ill with lung and autoimmune diseases (Life Disrupted: Getting Real About Chronic Illness in Your Twenties and Thirties, 2008), quotes Susan Sontag in describing herself: As a wife, mother and teacher, she behaves as if she were a citizen in Sontag’s “kingdom of the well,” but in truth, she belongs to the “kingdom of the sick,” with daily needs of drugs and lung aids to enable her to breathe freely. And she is not alone. There are 133 million Americans living with chronic disease, which accounts for 75 percent of health care spending. The author offers a well-researched if somewhat overwritten study of how the current state developed, what it says about society and the medical profession, and how science and technology are forces for change. Her review of the past is an exercise in negativity. Societies faced diseases with fear, often isolating, condemning or stigmatizing the sick. With World War II medical advances came optimism: Antibiotics would eliminate infectious disease, for example—until they didn’t. Nevertheless, doctors were respected, and Edwards writes that this was especially true in relation to female patients with chronic pain conditions. Even today, many doctors say that conditions like fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue or irritable bowel syndrome are “all in the head.” That is changing with the growth of disease advocacy groups, new research and the wide use of social media. Many patient groups, writes the author, take inspiration from the civil rights movement or AIDS activists. But the problem for chronic-disease advocates is that the term encompasses so many problems that it’s hard to strike a common agenda. Instead, Edwards argues for better-informed and -empowered patients and greater collaboration among scientists, researchers policymakers and patients.
A timely call to attention to a global health problem, but with no real solutions in sight.Pub Date: April 9, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-8027-1801-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2013
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
© Copyright 2023 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
