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The Wounded Storyteller Arthur W. Frank

The Wounded Storyteller By Arthur W. Frank

The Wounded Storyteller by Arthur W. Frank


$23.49
Condition - Very Good
Only 2 left

Summary

This work argues that people tell stories in order to make sense of their suffering; ill people are wounded storytellers. Frank recounts a collection of illness stories ranging from the well-known to the private testimonials of people with cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome and disabilities.

The Wounded Storyteller Summary

The Wounded Storyteller: Body, Illness and Ethics by Arthur W. Frank

In At the Will of the Body, Arthur Frank told the story of his own illnesses, heart attack and cancer. That book ended by describing the existence of a remission society, whose members all live with some form of illness or disability. The Wounded Storyteller is their collective portrait. Frank suggests that ill people are more than victims of disease or patients of medicine; they are wounded storytellers. People tell stories to make sense of their suffering; when they turn their diseases into stories, they find healing. Drawing on the work of authors such as Oliver Sacks, Anatole Broyard, Norman Cousins and Audre Lorde, as well as from people he met during the years he spent among different illness groups, Frank recounts a collection of illness stories, ranging from the well-known - such as Gilda Radner's battle with ovarian cancer - to the private testimonials of people with cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome and disabilties. Their stories are more than accounts of personal suffering: they abound with moral choices and point to a social ethic. Frank identifies three basic narratives of illness in restitution, chaos and quest. Restitution narratives anticipate getting well again and give prominence to the technology of cure. In chaos narratives, illness seems to stretch on forever, with no respite or redeeming insights. Quest narratives are about finding that insight as illness is transformed into a means for the ill person to become someone new.

Table of Contents

Preface Acknowledgments 1: When Bodies Need Voices 2: The Body's Problem with Illness 3: Illness as a Call for Stories 4: The Restitution Narrative 5: The Chaos Narrative 6: The Quest Narrative 7: Testimony 8: The Wound as Half Opening Notes Index

Additional information

GOR002030265
9780226259932
0226259935
The Wounded Storyteller: Body, Illness and Ethics by Arthur W. Frank
Used - Very Good
Paperback
The University of Chicago Press
19970515
232
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - The Wounded Storyteller