PositiveThe Observer (UK)Fascinating and intelligent... suffused with the intensity of feeling that hypochondria ignites ... Crampton rejects the convention that illness narratives should end with either tragedy or cure ... Avoiding the trap of false reassurance, however appealing for those experiencing hypochondria, she sets an example.
Cat Bohannon
RaveThe Guardian (UK)Bohannon calls on her astounding disciplinary range to tell this epic tale. Her writing ripples with references from literature, film studies, biochemistry, cognitive science and anthropology. No wonder it took her 10 years to finish. The footnotes alone, which are particularly learned, irreverent and funny, are a masterpiece ... The author’s parting plea is that we learn more about women and girls. In the UK, unlike the US, there is still no regulation that insists women are included in medical research. Not everyone agrees with the ethical good of extending participation.
Andrew Leland
RaveThe Guardian (UK)Andrew Leland’s memoir about this process articulates beautifully, with energy and honesty, how being held between seeing and blindness has changed him and his views on our ableist world ... Though Leland is accused occasionally by friends of \'over-intellectualising\' his situation, his fine sensibility, lucid writing and dignified treatment of his subject feels anything but indulgent. This book invites us all to rethink what it means to desire, to read, to be independent, to sit with uncertainty and to assume a new identity. Leland models how we might accept inevitable changes in our faculties as we age with tempered apprehension, humour and interest.
Leah Hazard
PositiveThe Guardian (UK)In lieu of a map, Womb is an excellent guide. Turning its final pages, I was reminded of Amy Poehler’s mantra of tolerance: \'Good for her! Not for me.\' Womb invites us to wish others well, defend their rights to make informed choices and refuse to apologise for our own.
Paul Craddock
PositiveThe Spectator (UK)The charm and value of Spare Parts comes from situating these landmarks in a wider history of ideas ... I only wish Craddock had discussed the intertwined history of prosthesis, and how non-human adjuncts compete with flesh and blood ... takes pains to keep the donors in view. The contributions of these silent figures have traditionally been considered worthless because they were existential rather than intellectual. Which left me wondering whether this really is the ‘surprising history’ Craddock’s subtitle claims.
Monty Lyman
PositiveThe Spectator (UK)An Oxford-based physician, [Lyman\'s] descriptions of physiology and pathology never stray far from a patient anecdote. The first rule of examination is to look at the body for any discolouration, lesions, bruises or scars. These often gift you the diagnosis ... The science is thoroughly and imaginatively told, such as when Lyman compares the architecture of female skin to ‘Greek columns’, which allow fat to dimple up through the gaps at the top leading to cellulite, while male skin forms ‘Gothic arches’, capped so that the fat doesn’t show ... a charismatic, knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide.
