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bookshelfmystic's review
I'm on a streak of DNFs this year.
We started listening to this on a road trip because it was available right away on Libby. I can now see why. It just feels like a weird rant from an older woman who doesn't like going to the doctor. The few chapters we listened to were all over the place, from complaining about too much preventive medicine to musing about gym culture to, inexplicably, trying to explain Silicon Valley.
She had a few good points mixed in with some real eyebrow-raisers that bordered on a total rejection of modern medicine. Maybe she had something interesting to say about mortality and natural human life by the end, but we didn't get to it.
We started listening to this on a road trip because it was available right away on Libby. I can now see why. It just feels like a weird rant from an older woman who doesn't like going to the doctor. The few chapters we listened to were all over the place, from complaining about too much preventive medicine to musing about gym culture to, inexplicably, trying to explain Silicon Valley.
She had a few good points mixed in with some real eyebrow-raisers that bordered on a total rejection of modern medicine. Maybe she had something interesting to say about mortality and natural human life by the end, but we didn't get to it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
khornstein1's review
3.0
First, I listened to this on audible, and it's kind of like a long podcast. Ehrenreich makes a number of good points about unnecessary medical testing and intervention, on which I very much mostly agree with her I also was amused by her descriptions of various authors/gurus who preached exercise and diet as a key to longevity only to die at an early age. I think the point (and maybe I missed it) that Ehrenreich overlooks, is that exercise and diet can be critical to those dealing with chronic diseases (diabetes, etc.) I am totally in agreement that forcing kids to eat kale salads for lunch in school is elitist and foolhardy, but at the same time, eating huge amounts of unhealthy food is obviously not the way to go for someone who's dealing with chronic illness, (that's where her "I eat foods that I like and taste good to me," breaks down for me). The cell biology bits would probably be more interesting to someone more attuned to life sciences than I--what's really amazing are all the crazy biological theories out there which are presented as "fact," (research bias, maybe?) but then Ehrenreich kind of introduces her own fringe theories without a ton of evidence (maybe they're in footnotes in the book). She redeems herself with the points she brings out about the development of the idea of "self/soul" vs. body and the history that led to that. So, it's a mixed bag, but pretty entertaining, as usual.
alicebme's review
2.0
While I did not find most of this book interesting or enlightening, the beginning really stirred something in me. I believe it was anger at being trained like a good girl to go along with yearly literal medical intrusion in my body. The 2 stars are for the 2 medical appointments I cancelled for the week, because I too am fucking tired of preventative medicine.
potathoe's review against another edition
I was hoping this would be a sociological perspective of death and health but dang I don’t think that’s what it’s gearing up for.
kleonard's review against another edition
5.0
Ehrenreich, as always, turns in a prescient and finely-crafted book that marries recent scientific knowledge to accessible and elegant writing in exploring the medicalization of aging and those who seek to reject the prolongation of life at the cost of living well.
princesspersephone's review
3.0
"You can think of death bitterly or with resignation, as a tragic interruption of your life, and take every possible measure to postpone it. Or, more realistically, you can think of life as an interruption of an eternity of personal nonexistence, and seize it as a brief opportunity to observe and interact with the living, ever-surprising world around us."
This book is very hard to pin down. I had many people asking me about it while reading it, however i never had the words to fully describe it. There was definitely a lot of content and it was really informative with a lot of great opinions put forth by Barbara Ehrenreich. However, it felt essentially directionless. Ehrenreich is definitely knowledgeable, especially in her professional concentration of cellular biology. This made the second half of the book a lot more enjoyable as a scientific review rather than a testament to how we should live. As a personal trainer/nutrition enthusiast/former kinesiology student, her stance on health and wellness seemed extremely uninformed. Yes it is definitely overblown and turned easily to quick selling propaganda, but to dismiss the importance of a balanced diet (see: not restrictive or absent of indulgence) and a consistent physical activity is a bit foolish. I loved a lot of the book, but it had such a pessimistic and disdainful undertone that it read largely as opinion than evidence based thoughts. Her chapters on reproduction and an "over-doctored" society were definitely what made this book interesting for me. I'm interested to see what her other books are like seeing as they seem to be much more acclaimed.
I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book is very hard to pin down. I had many people asking me about it while reading it, however i never had the words to fully describe it. There was definitely a lot of content and it was really informative with a lot of great opinions put forth by Barbara Ehrenreich. However, it felt essentially directionless. Ehrenreich is definitely knowledgeable, especially in her professional concentration of cellular biology. This made the second half of the book a lot more enjoyable as a scientific review rather than a testament to how we should live. As a personal trainer/nutrition enthusiast/former kinesiology student, her stance on health and wellness seemed extremely uninformed. Yes it is definitely overblown and turned easily to quick selling propaganda, but to dismiss the importance of a balanced diet (see: not restrictive or absent of indulgence) and a consistent physical activity is a bit foolish. I loved a lot of the book, but it had such a pessimistic and disdainful undertone that it read largely as opinion than evidence based thoughts. Her chapters on reproduction and an "over-doctored" society were definitely what made this book interesting for me. I'm interested to see what her other books are like seeing as they seem to be much more acclaimed.
I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.