Review: The HypochondriacsEditorial Review - Kirkus ReviewsThe story of hypochondria through the lens of a few of its famous sufferers. Though the concept has evolved over the centuries, its victims have continued to suffer horribly and to make enormous demands on others. The hypochondrium, the area of the abdomen housing the liver, gall bladder and other organs, was initially conceived as the seat of human melancholy and, in that quaint term, the vapors. As Cabinet magazine U.K. editor Dillon (In the Dark Room: A Journey in Memory, 2005) demonstrates, it is not difficult to see how the term has transformed to mean what it has today. He playfully defines hypochondriacs as "other people," then offers a more generic definition: persons who suspect that diseases—or mental illness—have moved in permanently. He examines the cases of nine cultural celebrities from more than two centuries, including Boswell, Darwin, Proust and Warhol. In each of the essays he covers much of the same ground, including the person's family history, symptoms, treatments (from physicians and others), death and, finally, the significance. The author includes excerpts from letters, diaries and other biographies and books by physicians, psychologists and quacks from all relevant periods. He also identifies a problem inherent in his analysis: Because medical knowledge and terminology have changed dramatically, it's very difficult to tell exactly what, if anything, was ailing Charlotte Bront", Darwin, Alice James and others. Nonetheless, he dives into their stories and turns up some intriguing facts and trends, though he addresses diet insufficiently—with the exception of Proust and Andy Warhol, both eccentric eaters. The cumulative effect of these stories is a surpassing sadness—poor Glenn Gould and others, retreating from a world in which they could not adequately function. Sturdy research and subtle analysis of these extreme cases produce some startling insights into human suffering. User reviewsReview: The Hypochondriacs: Nine Tormented LivesUser Review - Mariah Smith - GoodreadsPainfully boring. Dillon is not writing to amuse the common folks here... what is this, his doctoral thesis or something? Back stories on Boswell, etc. would be useful for us ordinary folks before we ... Read full review Review: The Hypochondriacs: Nine Tormented LivesUser Review - Moira Russell - GoodreadsI should have listened to my good friend the esteemed historian who said this was terrible. GUESS WHAT, it was terrible. Read full review Review: The Hypochondriacs: Nine Tormented LivesUser Review - Pris - GoodreadsThis book is a brief biography of 9 artists, most of them writers, and how they survived and coped with their supposed hypochondria. It is not a book about hypochondria, but more of the lives of the 9 ... Read full review Review: The Hypochondriacs: Nine Tormented LivesUser Review - Ainsley - GoodreadsI am surprised that this book has such a relatively low rating. Each study is deftly written, and I found the chapters on Florence Nightingale, Alice James and Glenn Gould particularly elegant. I ... Read full review Review: The Hypochondriacs: Nine Tormented LivesUser Review - Christina - GoodreadsYou know how sometimes there is a book that does a great job of telling a story, in an easy to follow manner? This is not that book. Even though the content was really interesting, his way of telling ... Read full review Review: The Hypochondriacs: Nine Tormented LivesUser Review - Theresa - GoodreadsNot too bad, interesting profiles. Unfortunately the people were really sick characters, if not always physically sick. Read full review Review: The Hypochondriacs: Nine Tormented LivesUser Review - Bridget - GoodreadsMeandering, confusing, voyeuristic. It needed more clarity. I still found the examinations of Charlotte Bronte, Daniel Paul Schreber, Glenn Gould, and Andy Warhol really interesting. A few others were a bit inscrutable but still good. Read full review Review: The Hypochondriacs: Nine Tormented LivesUser Review - Steven Stimach - GoodreadsI generally don't write many reviews, but several of the low scores for this book spurred my to put something together. Brian Dillon's study of disease and hypochondria through the characters of nine ... Read full review Review: The Hypochondriacs: Nine Tormented LivesUser Review - Simon - GoodreadsAuthor's voice is a little odd, maybe too literary or aggressively "artistic" for what's more or less a biography, but it seems to work pretty well. Your enjoyment of individual chapters will probably ... Read full review | User ratings| 5 stars | | | 4 stars | | | 3 stars | | | 2 stars | | | 1 star | |
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