The Wounded Storyteller
Body, Illness, and Ethics, Second Edition
Second Edition
9780226004976
9780226067360
The Wounded Storyteller
Body, Illness, and Ethics, Second Edition
Second Edition
Since it was first published in 1995, The Wounded Storyteller has occupied a unique place in the body of work on illness. Both the collective portrait of a so-called “remission society” of those who suffer from some type of illness or disability and a cogent analysis of their stories within a larger framework of narrative theory, Arthur W. Frank’s book has reached a large and diverse readership including the ill, medical professionals, and scholars of literary theory.
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 stirring collection of illness stories, ranging from the well-known—Gilda Radner’s battle with ovarian cancer—to the private testimonials of people with cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, and disabilities. Their stories are more than accounts of personal suffering: they abound with moral choices and point to a social ethic.
In this new edition Frank adds a preface describing the personal and cultural times when the first edition was written. His new afterword extends the book’s argument significantly, writing about storytelling and experience, other modes of illness narration, and a version of hope that is both realistic and aspirational. Reflecting on both his own life during the creation of the first edition and the conclusions of the book itself, Frank reminds us of the power of storytelling as way to understanding our own suffering.
280 pages | 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 | © 1995, 2013
Literature and Literary Criticism: American and Canadian Literature
Sociology: General Sociology, Medical Sociology
Reviews
Table of Contents
Preface, 2013
Preface
Acknowledgments
One When Bodies Need Voices
Two The Body’s Problem with Illness
Three Illness as a Call for Stories
Four The Restitution Narrative
Five The Chaos Narrative
Six The Quest Narrative
Seven Testimony
Eight The Wound as Half Opening
Afterword
Notes
Index
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