Health, illness or addiction: social aspects Books

Book SynopsisA FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAROne of our most scintillating public intellectuals explores the political paradoxes of the pandemic and helps us think our way through it''We are able to imagine anything because we are being besieged by something that was considered unimaginable...''Beneath the panic and bluster, beneath the confusing speeches and the conflicting advice, the Coronavirus pandemic acted, changing our world in the most profound ways. The tragic human cost and the economic devastation will be assessed and calculated for decades to come. But the pandemic also changed things in ways that are less easily expressed and understood. It has made bare the frayed contradictions of modern life. It has distorted things that seemed simple and settled. It has affirmed plain, uncomfortable truths. In this brilliant, thought-provoking essay, Ivan Krastev, one of our most interesting thinkers today, explores the pandemic''s iTrade ReviewOne of the great European minds of today -- Timothy SnyderFew people question the conventional wisdom like Ivan Krastev -- George SorosIvan Krastev is one of Europe's leading thinkers -- Madeleine Albright

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Book SynopsisA rare study that transforms our understanding of why youth die by suicide, why youth suicide clusters happen, and how to stop themYouth suicide clusters have deeply unsettled communities in recent years. While clusters have been widely documented in the media, too little is known about why youth die by suicide, why youth suicide clusters happen, and how to stop them both.In Life under Pressure, Anna S. Mueller and Seth Abrutyn investigate the social roots of youth suicide and why certain places weather disproportionate incidents of adolescent suicides and suicide clusters. Through close examination of kids'' lives in a community repeatedly rocked by youth suicide clusters, Mueller and Abrutyn reveal how the social worlds that youth inhabit and the various messages they learn in those spaces--about who they are supposed to be, mental illness, and help-seeking--shape their feelings about themselves and in turn their risk of suicide. With great empathy, Mueller and Abrutyn also identify the moments when adults unintentionally fail kids by not talking to them about suicide, teaching them how to seek help, or helping them grieve.Through stories of survival, resilience, and even rebellion, Mueller and Abrutyn show how social environments can cause suicide and how they can be changed to help kids discover a life worth living. By revealing what it is like to live and die in one community, Life under Pressure offers tangible solutions to one of the twenty-first century''s most tragic public health problems.

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Book SynopsisWhen does epidemic disease disrupt society to the point where it becomes a political crisis? In the early 1980s, almost unnoticed in the larger drama that was AIDS, over half of hemophiliacs and a large number of blood transfusion recipients were infected with toxic blood contaminated with HIV. The French public''s discovery of this catastrophe in the early 1990s created a transformative political crisis; this same discovery in the United States went largely unnoticed. In The Social Production of Crisis, Constance A. Nathanson and Henri Bergeron focus on a profoundly troubling story to present a detailed case comparative analysis not only of the catastrophe itself and its multiple retrospective interpretations but also of its intimate connection to the history and organization of blood as a consumer product in each country. They draw on secondary sources, archival research, and interviews with key players to provide a historical, political, and social reconstruction of the HIV contaminTrade ReviewIn this critically important and timely book, Nathanson and Bergeron offer a tale of two countries and their divergent responses to the recognition that HIV had contaminated their blood supplies, placing millions at risk. In the US this story is all but forgotten, a footnote in the wider history of the AIDS epidemic. In France, the debate about HIV in the blood supply became and remains the source of protest, public debate, and political crisis. Essential reading for anyone interested in epidemics, comparative policy, and culture. * Allan M. Brandt, Harvard University, and author of No Magic Bullet: A Social History of Venereal Disease in the United States (Oxford, 2020) *In the early 1980s, a contaminated national blood supply led to AIDS infection of over half of hemophiliacs in the U.S. and in France. This book explains-in painstaking detail and with incisive analysis-how and why the same set of events created a national crisis in France and barely a ripple in the United States. A must read! * Abigail C. Saguy, Professor and Chair, UCLA Sociology *In this sophisticated and deft analysis, Bergeron and Nathanson ask why, despite the deaths of thousands of hemophiliacs, contamination of the blood supply with HIV did not become a crisis in the US, while a somewhat lower casualty count led to the most serious public health scandal in post-war France and ended multiple political careers. Their answer takes the form of a fascinating, multi-stranded historical narrative that brings together decisions taken after WWII, the symbolic ambiguity of blood and blood products, legal constructs, the power of professional and donor associations, and the rhetorical work of multiple, interested parties. It is essential reading for anyone interested, especially in the wake of the Coronavirus epidemic, in how public health crises are made or unmade. * Gil Eyal, author of The Crisis of Expertise *This exemplary comparative analysis of parallel health crises in France and the United States draws on the best tools available to explain diverging national outcomes. Bringing together a sophisticated political sociology of the state, with cultural, network and strategic action analysis, Nathanson and Bergeron produce a brilliant account that will should inform many other future studies. This book should be widely read and discussed. * Michèle Lamont, Harvard University *Table of ContentsPreface Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: The Social Life of Blood, 1948-1980 HIV/BLOOD STORIES Chapter 3: Act I - Before the Storm, 1981-85 Chapter 4: Act II - The Storm Breaks, 1986-95 Chapter 5: Mobilization of the Afflicted BLOOD EPISTEMOLOGY Chapter 6: Litigation Chapter 7: Compensation Chapter 8: Authoritative Retrospection REFLECTIONS Chapter 9: The Social Production of Political Crisis Chapter 10: Conclusion: Crisis and Change APPENDICES A. Chronologies B. Acronyms C. Sources Bibliography

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Book Synopsis''The book the NHS has always deserved'' Andrew Marr''A sensational and much-needed book . . . thorough, scholarly and above all readable'' Chris van Tulleken--------------------------------------------------How does our National Health Service really work, and what does that mean for our future?Since its foundation in 1948, the NHS has come to define our national identity, making history (and the headlines) again and again - from cutting edge discoveries like the first ''test tube baby'', to its heroic response to the Coronavirus crisis. But the NHS has also become a battleground for some of the fiercest political contests of our time, perceived either as a national treasure, or as a lumbering piece of state machinery in need of renovation.In Fighting for Life, bestselling journalist Isabel Hardman cuts through the sentimentality and sloganeering on all sides of the political spectrum. Packed with gripping stories frTrade ReviewA compelling, deftly constructed and powerfully told narrative . . . Hardman is a meticulous journalist with a gift for storytelling. Necessary reading -- Rafael Behr * Guardian *Terrific . . . Every aspect of this history is informed and beautifully written -- Alan Johnson * Observer, Book of the Week *Vivid and fascinating, this is a beautifully cogent, balanced and human biography of a health service haunted by its own mythology . . . Hardman is impressively even-handed and unsentimental -- Melanie Reid * The Times, Book of the Week *It has by far the best analysis of where the health service came from, and where it's going . . . full of excellent stories -- Karol Sikora * The Telegraph *Brilliant -- Adam Kay * author of This is Going to Hurt and Undoctored *Passionate, deeply researched and page-turningly full of good stories, this is so good one is tempted to say it is the book the NHS has always deserved -- Andrew MarrThis is a sensational and much-needed book: funny, intelligent and so beautifully written that it doesn't read like normal non-fiction . . . thorough, scholarly and above all readable -- Chris van TullekenA kaleidoscopic history of the NHS -- Henry Marsh * New Statesman *Hardman's writing is breezily accessible, and her deeply researched book is full of colourful vignettes and an enjoyable spice of gossip . . . she is particularly good at locating the NHS within the wider social movements that have changed British life over the 75 years of its existence -- Sarah Neville * Financial Times *A brilliantly written and engrossing biography of the NHS . . . compelling and even-handed -- Kate Womersley * The Spectator *A superb, rollercoaster account of the NHS . . . This completely riveting and scrupulously researched book shows how, just like its patients, the NHS sways precariously between money, morality and mortality, and trust, trauma and triumph -- Juliet NicolsonA compelling thriller . . . Fighting for Life provides vivid and urgently needed context to the familiar daily news stories about the crises in the NHS -- Steve RichardsA must-read for anyone interested in how the NHS started and why we have ended up where we are. A thoroughly fascinating, comprehensive and critical analysis -- Dr Ranj SinghA fascinating, insightful and forensic history of the NHS by a journalist who understands the politics as well as the policy of the health service. Essential reading -- Rachel SylvesterThis remarkable and immensely readable book looks back at the highs and lows of the NHS's first 75 years, and asks critical questions about its future. Thought-provoking, despairing, eye-opening, and inspiring in equal measure -- Sir David HaslamHardman provides an admirable account of the struggles of the [health service] . . . She is lucid, fair and unpolemical -- Andrew Gimson * Conservative Home *

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Book SynopsisThe Cold War reconsidered as seventy-five years of slow nuclear warfareTrade Review“Nuclear Bodies provides an important contribution to the literature on the humanitarian impacts of the nuclear industry. . . . A useful reference for anyone looking to better understand the decades of radioactive harm inflicted on people and on the planet.”—Alicia Sanders-Zakre, International Affairs“Inexorable clarity and care for his fellow humans mark Robert Jacobs’s guide to the Cold War as a limited nuclear war, whose harms disfigure any possible future.”—Norma Field, author of In the Realm of a Dying Emperor: Japan at Century’s End“Jacobs leaves behind the division of nuclear power into civilian and military spheres. He argues convincingly that propagandists drew this line in order to clear the way for the unhindered pursuit of nuclear weapons. In so doing, he masterfully shows how military leaders waged a limited nuclear war on the environment and human bodies.”—Kate Brown, Massachusetts Institute of Technology“Nuclear Bodies is an urgent book, a work of great ethical gravity and political import that grapples with the pernicious legacies of radiological colonialism. Jacobs unsettles conventional distinctions between war and peace, exhorting us to reimagine the Cold War as a limited nuclear war.”—Rob Nixon, author of Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor

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Book SynopsisSelections from the Pandemic Files published by The Yale Review, the preeminent journal of literature and ideasTrade Review“Here diverse contributors, from Zimbabwe to Rikers to Yale itself, discuss their fear for loved ones, their adjustment to new conditions, and their research into historical precedents (AIDS) or structural inequalities behind the pandemic.”—Alexander Wells, Exberliner“We are still making sense of the COVID-19 pandemic. A World Out of Reach gives us a path towards understanding by offering direction from diverse domains: personal vignettes, poetry, law, public health and history. This multicultural compendium is unflinching in depicting what we face while giving hope that the human spirit is resilient and determined.”—Jerome Groopman, M. D., Harvard Medical School, author of The Measure of Our Days “A World Out of Reach is a necessary and illuminating archive. . . . Invaluable and absorbing.”—Cathy Park Hong, author of Minor Feelings: An Asian-American Reckoning"'Who are we—who were we—in the pandemic?' Meghan O'Rourke asks in the introduction to this remarkable new anthology. A World Out of Reach is an astonishing look at the early months of COVID-19.”—Jess Row, author of White Flights: Race, Fiction, and the American Imagination “This book will be valuable for decades to come for anyone who wants to study, analyze, or simply contemplate what happened to America and the world in 2020.”—Ruth Franklin, author of Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life “This absorbing and impressive gathering—broad in cultural and geographic range—beautifully integrates the immediate with long-range views. This is a special collection.”—Langdon Hammer, Yale University

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Book SynopsisAn incredibly important and powerful look at how our culture treats the pain and suffering of women in medical and social contexts. A polemic on the state of women''s health and healthcare.One in ten women worldwide have endometriosis, yet it is funded at 5% of the rate of diabetes; women are half as likely to be treated for a heart attack as men and twice as likely to die six months after discharge; over half of women who are eventually diagnosed with an autoimmune disease will be told they are hypochondriacs or have a mental illness. These are just a few of the shocking statistics explored in this book.Fourteen years after being diagnosed with endometriosis, Gabrielle Jackson couldn''t believe how little had changed in the treatment and knowledge of the disease. In 2015, her personal story kick-started a worldwide investigation into the disease by the Guardian; thousands of women got in touch to tell their own stories and many more read and shared theTrade ReviewGabrielle Jackson pulls no punches in this timely and anger-inducing book which explores how our culture treats women in medical and social contexts. From medical research to bedside manners, women's pain and disease is not taken as seriously as men's (one in 10 women worldwide have endometriosis 'the silent disease' and yet it receives just 5% of the funding of diabetes). Exploring how the patriarchy has systematically swept aside women's needs both historically and now, Jackson rightly calls for a huge cultural shift backing up her research with moving first-hand accounts and shocking statistics. -- Francesca Brown * Stylist *What Jackson details in her book is how women are - historically, and to the present day - under-served by the systems that should keep us healthy, happy and informed about our bodies. -- Nicole Mowbray * Metro *This book could not be more timely or important. -- Katharine Viner * the Guardian *Gabrielle Jackson is a brilliant journalist and a wonderful feminist, and incapable of being dull. -- Emily Wilson * New Scientist *A major contribution to feminist writing of the 21st century -- Caroline de Costa, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, James Cook University

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Book SynopsisThe fifth edition of the essential, accessible source for understanding how drugs work and their effects on body and behaviour.Trade Review"A unique, up-to-date, and useful source for all those interested in the workings of and effects of legal and illegal drugs, regardless of whether you are a concerned mother or Irvine Welsh!" -- The British Psychological Society"Buzzed is one of the most important books I’ve ever read... So comprehensive and so readable that I recommend everybody who’s interested in this area—kids who are taking drugs, parents, professionals… and, most of all, politicians and legislators—to read it." -- Irvine Welsh"Well written and easy to read. [Buzzed] could be used as a resource to be consulted, dipped into simply for interest’s sake, or read from cover to cover... If you are looking for an up-to-date, accessible source of information regarding drugs of abuse, this book would be a good starting point." -- The Ulster Medical Journal

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Book SynopsisA collection of intimate and revelatory first-hand accounts of pandemics through the ages. Humanity has always been struck by pestilence and pandemics, from the plagues of ancient Egypt to the pox that ravaged Europe in the Middle Ages, to Covid-19. People living through the crises have always recorded what they saw, what they felt, and what they did. Some presented sober facts laced with anecdote, while others produced emotional outpourings; moralists speculated on the origins of the horror, poets distilled the suffering. Doctors described how they were able to advance their understanding of disease and scientists how to cure it, while survivors and the families of victims gave the inside story of the nightmare that develops when a long-feared disease enters your home or your body. There was a time when to read accounts of the Plague in Wittenburg by Martin Luther or the Great Plague of 1665 by Samuel Pepys scenes of anguish and woe, empty streets, quarantined houses, closeTrade Review'Insightful, moving and empathetic' - BBC History Magazine'Fascinating… Through tracing the social, political and public-health responses evoked by disease-related disasters across the globe, readers can empathise with individuals separated by centuries and oceans… resonates strongly in today’s world' - MinervaTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. Plagues of Egypt 2. Athenian plague – 5th century BC 3. Antonine Plague – 2nd century AD 4. Plague of Justinian – 6th century 5. Leprosy – 11–14th centuries 6. Black Death – 14th century 7. Sweating sickness – 15–16th centuries 8. Syphilis – 16th century 9. Cocolitztli epidemic, Mexico – 16th century 10. New World Smallpox – 16–17th century 11. Great Plague (or Marseilles plague) – 1660s 12. Russian Plague – 1770s 13. Cholera – 1850s 14. Flu – 1890s 15. Spanish flu – 1910s 16. Polio – 1911 – 1980s 17. Asian flu – 1950s 18. Hong Kong flu – 1968 19. AIDS – 1980s 20. Swine flu – 2000s 21. SARs, MERs et al. – 2010s 22. Covid-19 – 2020s Conclusion Timeline of Catastrophes Index

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Book SynopsisAIDS has been a devastating plague in much of sub-Saharan Africa, yet the long-term implications for gender and sexuality are just emerging. This book tackles this issue head on and examines how AIDS has altered the ways masculinity is lived in Uganda - a country known as Africa's great AIDS success story.Trade Review"AIDS and Masculinity in the African City will be of great interest to anthropologists, sociologists, gender scholars and global/public health practitioners, but the book is also a compelling must-read for people concerned with and interested in urban ethnography, HIV/AIDS, feminist theory and masculinities." Centre for Medical HumanitiesTable of ContentsList of Figures and Tables 1. Remaking Masculinity in Bwaise 2. The Making of Masculinity in Urban Uganda 3. Providing in Poverty 4. Women’s Rights in the Remaking of Masculinity 5. The Intersection of Masculinity, Sexuality, and AIDS 6. Beyond Bwaise Epilogue Acknowledgments Appendix Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisThis textbook surveys the current knowledge on substance use disorders (SUD), summarizing scientific evidence from numerous fields. It uses a biopsychosocial framework to integrate the many factors that contribute to addictions, from genetic predispositions, neurological responses caused by drugs, co-occurring psychiatric disorders, personality traits, and developmental conditions to cultural influences. Real-life vignettes and first-person accounts build understanding of the lived experience of addiction. The currently accepted practices for diagnosis and treatment are presented, including the role of 12-step programmes and other mutual-assistance groups. The text also investigates the research methods that form the foundation of evidence-based knowledge. The main body text is augmented by study guideposts such as learning objectives, review exercises, highlighted key terms, and chapter summaries, which enable more efficient comprehension and retention of the book''s material.Trade Review'This text presents a concise and comprehensive view of the biological and psychological contributors to the susceptibility, initiation, and maintenance of substance use disorders. The clearly defined learning objectives and review exercises, in every chapter, make this book a great teaching tool for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses focused on drug use.' Jermaine Jones, Associate Professor of Clinical Neurobiology in Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center'This is an accessible and well-informed text. It describes the biopsychosocial model and outlines the difficulties of research, problematic drug use, and treatment. The textbook presents informed discussions of both sides of every argument for all the key issues in substance use disorders. Readers will finish the book with genuine expertise.' Mitch Earleywine, Professor of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York'This important, comprehensive book provides a modern and holistic view of ongoing public health challenges regarding substance use disorders. Biological, psychological, psychosocial, and structural factors shape substance use disorders. If we want to initiate change, we must address these domains.' Perry N. Halkitis, Dean and Professor of Biostatistics and Urban-Global Public Health, Rutgers School of Public Health'Perry Duncan supplies a well-structured and comprehensive introduction to substance use disorder that provides a valuable grounding for students in the field. It contains vignettes that help illustrate each topic, and questions for students to answer that help structure their thinking.' Robert West, Professor of Health Psychology, University College LondonTable of ContentsList of figures; List of tables; List of boxes; Preface; Acknowledgements; Organization of the book; Part I. Identifying the Causes and Consequences of Disordered Substance Use; 1.The biopsychosocial perspective and research methods for investigation of substance use disorders; 2. Diagnosis of substance use disorders; 3. The disease concept; Part II. The Neuroscience of Substance Use Disorders; 4. Psychopharmacology: drug effects on brain function; 5. Brain function and substance use disorders; Part III. Biopsychosocial Risk Factors; 6. Genetic influence on substance use disorders; 7. Behavioral, cognitive and social factors promoting SUD; 8. Psychiatric disorders, personality and developmental factors; Part IV. Use Disorders with Specific Drugs; 9. Alcohol: a dangerous drug; 10. Alcohol use disorders; 11. Tobacco use and nicotine addiction; 12. Cannabis use disorders; 13. Use disorders of cocaine and methamphetamine; 14. Opioid use disorders; 15. Tranquilizers and sedative use disorders; Part V. Treatment of Substance Use Disorders; 16. Treatment of substance use disorders; References; Index

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Book SynopsisIn Refusal, her searing new collection of poetry, Jenny Molberg draws on elements of the uncanny - invented hospitals, the Demogorgon of Dungeons & Dragons, an Ophelia character who refuses suicide - to investigate trauma, addiction, and forces of oppression.

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Book SynopsisBetween 1919 and 1941, five relatives of Christopher Lee Manes were diagnosed with an illness then referredto as 'leprosy' and now known as Hansen's disease. After their diagnosis, the five Landry siblings were separated from their loved ones and sent to the National Leprosarium in Carville, Louisiana, where they remained in quarantine until their deaths. Drawing on historical documents and imaginative reconstructions, Naming the Leper tells through poetry this family's haunting story of exile and human suffering.While confined at Carville, the Landry siblings attempted to keep some connection to the outside world by writing letters to family members and other loved ones. Manes incorporates materials from this correspondence, along with medical records, the leprosarium newsletter, and personal interviews, as he crafts poems that reconstruct his relatives' daily lives at Carville. Although much can only be imagined, their words remain factual and the

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Book SynopsisThe new edition of Reproduction and Society assembles an authoritative collection of the best scholarship on reproductive matters to help students and readers think critically and more expansively about acts of reproduction as social phenomena.The social, political, and personal meanings of reproduction have become increasingly important and surround us in the news, during elections, and even within popular culture. In the aftermath of the United States Supreme Courtâs decision to overturn a nearly 50-year-old precedent guaranteeing a constitutional right to abortion, these issues have become even more pressing. Exploring the topic from a sociological lens, and drawing on influential writing from other fields, including history, economics, anthropology, and medicine, editors Carole Joffe and Jennifer Reich are assured and accessible guides as they lead readers across six core thematic areas analyzing reproductive self-determination and why it matters. From a reproductive justice perspective, the new edition examines issues related to contraception and sterilization, abortion, pregnancy, maternal-fetal conflicts, and uses of reproductive technologies. Readers will encounter classical texts that have contributed to the foundation of this exciting field, as well as more recent research that continues to push the field forward, all in the service of sharpening their understanding of why reproductive politics have been and continue to be contentious, complicated, and high stakes.Refreshed and significantly expanded, with over two dozen new selections, the second edition of this reader will have wide appeal for undergraduate and graduate students who are new to the study of reproduction, both in courses that focus on the topic across different disciplines and as a supplement to courses on the family, gender, health care, social problems, and sexuality.

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Book SynopsisIn an era where debates about public health research, policy, and practice are central to the wider socio-political discourse, this invaluable volume brings together key themes from the last 15 years of critical scholarship in and of public health.The book provides both empirical examples and the conceptual tools for rethinking the role of public health in society, challenging the familiar biomedicalized and individualized discourse that has dominated throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Divided into nine chapters, it covers key topics such as complex systems of health determinants, evidence-making in public health, and the role of corporate actors and philanthropists. Reframing the field through local and global political lenses, New Directions in Critical Public Health: Health in Turbulent Times also integrates interdisciplinary perspectives to provide a truly holistic overview of this rapidly evolving area.It will interest not only students and scholars of Public Health and the Health Sciences more widely, but also those in the fields of Sociology, Political and Development Studies, Economics.

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Book SynopsisThis book uniquely examines, across cultures, the health benefits and detriments of religious beliefs, with important implications for individual wellbeing and human survival.Belief, Behavior, and Health takes the reader through journeys of the authorâs research in the Middle East, Africa, and the urban United States, where she focused on the unequal health and survival of women globally and vulnerable groups in the United States. Almost every health problem, especially those experienced by the poor and disadvantaged, arose from or was made worse by the conditions in the environment in which people lived. Laneâs detailed studies of beliefs about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam led to the authorâs deep observations on how religious belief and practice, as well as discrimination due to religious prejudice, can be a major influence on health, both positively and negatively. In this book, Lane shows how religious precepts and cultural influences on religious behavior fun

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisLife at Home for People with a Dementia provides an evidence-based and readable account of improving life at home for people with a dementia and their families. There are estimated to be 47 million people with a dementia worldwide, the majority of whom will live, or want to live, in their own home. Yet there is a major shortcoming in available knowledge on what life is like for people with a dementia living at home. Most research focuses on care in hospitals or care homes, and takes a medical perspective. This book bridges this gap in knowledge by providing a comprehensive and critical overview of the best available evidence on enabling people with a dementia to live well at home from the viewpoint of those living with the condition, and in the context of global policy drivers on ageing and health, as well as technological advances. The book includes chapters on citizenships â that is, the diversity of people living with a dementia â enabling life at home, rethinking self-management, the ethics and care of people with a dementia at home, technological care and citizenship, and sharing responsibilities. It concludes with a care manifesto in which we set out a vision for improving life at home for people with a dementia that covers the areas of professional practice, education and care research. By covering a wide range of interrelated topics to advance understanding and practice as to how people with a dementia from diverse backgrounds can be supported to live well at home, this book provides a synthesised, critical and readable understanding of the complexities and risks involved. Trade Review‘This is an exciting, innovative and hugely informative book that is not afraid to face up to the symbolism of home and its place in the everyday lives of people with dementia and their families’. - Professor John Keady, The University of Manchester, UK Table of ContentsList of figures; List of tables; Foreword – a poem; Foreword; Acknowledgements; Chapter 1: Introduction; Part One: Understanding Life at Home; Chapter 2: Citizenships: The diversity of people living at home; Chapter 3: Enabling life at home; Chapter 4: Rethinking self-management and dementia; Part Two: Towards Social Justice; Chapter 5: Ethics and care for people with a dementia at home; Chapter 6: Technological enhanced care and citizenship; Chapter 7: Sharing responsibilities; Chapter 8: Care Manifesto; Index

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Book SynopsisDrawing on activist campaign literature and materials, broadcast media, and new oral history interviews, Severs reconstructs and discusses the overlooked world of radical AIDS activism in England. This book provides one of the first detailed histories of the radical HIV/AIDS movement in England, following ACT UP's travels from New York to London via prominent queer intellectuals, and reconstructing the vibrant theatrical campaigns staged by ACT UP groups across England. Radical Acts explores expressions of activism that were far more common than demonstrations and marches. Manifestations of a political commitment to ameliorating the injustices facing people living with HIV permeated most aspects of everyday life. These forms of everyday activism' played out in workplaces, universities and church halls across England, as well as through networks that stretched across Europe and North America. This book breaks new ground by studying the radical alongside the ever

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Book SynopsisWhile many doctors claim that Lyme disease—a tick-borne bacterial infection—is easily diagnosed and treated, other doctors and the patients they care for argue that it can persist beyond standard antibiotic treatment in the form of chronic Lyme disease. In Divided Bodies, Abigail A. Dumes offers an ethnographic exploration of the Lyme disease controversy that sheds light on the relationship between contested illness and evidence-based medicine in the United States. Drawing on fieldwork among Lyme patients, doctors, and scientists, Dumes formulates the notion of divided bodies: she argues that contested illnesses are disorders characterized by the division of bodies of thought in which the patient''s experience is often in conflict with how it is perceived. Dumes also shows how evidence-based medicine has paradoxically amplified differences in practice and opinion by providing a platform of legitimacy on which interested parties—patients, doctors, scientists, poTrade Review“This exceptional book takes readers into the heart of an important medical controversy about the very nature of Lyme disease. Sensitively portraying the struggles of Lyme sufferers, as well as the divided opinions of the clinicians who care for them, this book demonstrates how evidence-based medicine may not reflect the social complexities of a deeply contested illness. A must-read for scholars of American health and medicine and for anyone interested in the growing Lyme disease epidemic.” -- Marcia C. Inhorn, Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs, Yale University“The controversy over the existence and meaning of chronic Lyme disease is one of the most fascinating stories in contemporary medicine. In Divided Bodies, Abigail A. Dumes explores with penetration and subtlety this epistemic border on which patients and physicians wage an intense battle to impose their truth.” -- Didier Fassin, Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study and Chair of Public Health at the Collège de France"This book is valuable for its illustration of how some medical paradigms become mainstream, while others disappear. Chronic Lyme, whatever it is, holds up a mirror to evidence-based medicine. Dumes's ethnographic approach provides voluminous details, new insights, and a refreshing alternative to much of the existing literature on the Lyme controversy. Highly recommended. All readers." -- M. Gochfeld * Choice *“Divided Bodies will be of interest to medical anthropologists and sociologists, and health professionals curious about how illnesses come to be contested.... It is an impressive example of how ethnography can shed light on the relationship between illness, disease and evidence-based medicine.” -- Caragh Brosnan * Sociology of Health & Illness *“Divided Bodies is a thorough, anthropo­logical study of the controversies present in Lyme disease and inherent in EBM.... Interest­ed physicians are encouraged to check it out.” -- William Murdoch * Family Medicine *“Being the first of its kind, Abigail A. Dumes’ ethnographic study of Lyme disease in the United States introduces its readers to a world largely unknown.... Thanks to her continuous, careful attention, readers get a thorough idea of what is at stake.” -- Josephine Rudbech * Ethnos *"I come away from this book with a clearer understanding of how evidence-based medicine makes multiple kinds of truth claims accessible, and how the idea of evidence becomes an agent in all approaches to chronic Lyme/post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome. This degree of balance, reflected down to Dumes’s word choice, is masterful. . . . Pre-COVID, most abled people’s lives were cordoned off from those who suffer chronically. Dumes’s text offers insight into what it might mean to distinguish, in our research and writing practices as much as in the subjects of our research, what we mean by evidence, what we mean by knowledge, and how we hold multiple competing worldviews in the same frame, as we pay attention to the suffering of others." -- Charis Boke * Medical Anthropology Quarterly *“Throughout [Divided Bodies], Dumes achieves a balancing act as an ethnographer of an onto-epistemological debate, wherein questions about what Lyme is frequently crowd out the social-scientific questions of what Lyme means and how it is actedupon.” -- Emma Broder * H-Sci-Med-Tech, H-Net Reviews *“Divided Bodies is an excellent example of the scholarship possible for those who take seriously the prospect of contested truths in contemporary medicine. It is well worth a read for those interested in the hegemony of evidence-based medicine and the persistence of the medically unexplained, as well as others invested in the specificities of Lyme disease as it is experienced and treated.” -- Paula Martin * Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry *"Abigail Dumes effectively presents a transdisciplinary approach for articulating the rhizomatic representations of illness that yields the phenomenon of Lyme Disease. It was a joy to read." -- Frans Jackop Lourens Robberts * Sociology of Health & Illness *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Introduction: Lyme Disease Outside In 1 1. Mapping the Lyme Disease Controversy 27 2. Preventing Lyme 65 3. Living Lyme 99 4. Diagnosing and Treating Lyme 158 5. Lyme Disease, Evidence-Based Medicine, and the Biopolitics of Truthmaking 187 Conclusion: Through Lyme's Looking Glass 222 Notes 235 Glossary 271 References 273 Index 327

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Book SynopsisEach year in India more than two million people fall sick with tuberculosis (TB), an infectious, airborne, and potentially deadly lung disease. The country accounts for almost 30 percent of all TB cases worldwide and well above a third of global deaths from it. Because TB''s prevalence also indicates unfulfilled development promises, its control is an important issue of national concern, wrapped up in questions of postcolonial governance. Drawing on long-term ethnographic engagement with a village in North India and its TB epidemic, Andrew McDowell tells the stories of socially marginalized Dalit (ex-untouchable) farming families afflicted by TB, and the nurses, doctors, quacks, mediums, and mystics who care for them. Each of the book''s chapters centers on a material or metaphorical substancesuch as dust, clouds, and ghoststo understand how breath and airborne illness entangle biological and social life in everyday acts of care for the self, for others, and for the environment.

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Book SynopsisExamines the complexity and the humanity of the opioid epidemic America’s opioid epidemic continues to ravage families and communities, despite intense media coverage, federal legislation, criminal prosecutions, and harm reduction efforts to prevent overdose deaths. More than 450,000 Americans have died from opioid overdoses since the late 1990s. In Opioid Reckoning, Amy C. Sullivan explores the complexity of the crisis through firsthand accounts of people grappling with the reverberating effects of stigma, treatment, and recovery. Nearly everyone in the United States has been touched in some way by the opioid epidemic, including the author and her family. Sullivan uses her own story as a launching point to learn how the opioid epidemic challenged longstanding recovery protocols in Minnesota, a state internationally recognized for pioneering addiction treatment. By centering the voices of many people who have experienced opioid use, treatment, recovery, and loss, Sullivan exposes the devastating effects of a one-size-fits-all approach toward treatment of opioid dependency. Taking a clear-eyed, nonjudgmental perspective of every aspect of these issues—drug use, parenting, harm reduction, medication, abstinence, and stigma—Opioid Reckoning questions current treatment models, healthcare inequities, and the criminal justice system. Sullivan also imagines a future where anyone suffering an opioid-use disorder has access to the individualized care, without judgment, available to those with other health problems. Opioid Reckoning presents a captivating look at how the state that invented “rehab” addresses the challenges of the opioid epidemic and its overdose deaths while also taking readers into the intimate lives of families, medical and social work professionals, grassroots activists, and many others impacted by the crisis who contribute their insights and potential solutions. In sharing these stories and chronicling their lessons, Sullivan offers a path forward that cultivates empathy, love, and hope for anyone affected by chaotic drug use and its harms.Trade Review "From the Land of 10,000 Rehabs comes this generous and heartening testament to the power of empathy and the wisdom of harm reduction. Living with Amy Sullivan’s stories of ‘trauma parenting,’ we are compelled to take stock of how our own lives and losses intertwine with those who people these pages."—Nancy D. Campbell, author of OD: Naloxone and the Politics of Overdose "An important contribution that documents the lives of those faced with America's overdose crisis in the state that originated the twelve-step/abstinence treatment approach. Addiction care must change—and this book shows why."—Maia Szalavitz, author of Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction and Undoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction "In this timely book, Amy C. Sullivan illuminates how the public health crisis of opioid use disorder cannot be adequately conveyed through abstract statistics. Rather, it is located in childhood bedrooms and around kitchen tables, affecting families and especially mothers. The personal narratives and oral histories Sullivan weaves together tell an indelible story of the trauma, stigma, and, above all, humanity of the experience of addiction and recovery."—Sarah Gollust, University of Minnesota School of Public Health "Dr. Sullivan’s work on behalf of addiction and treatment is remarkable and Opioid Reckoning offers a glimpse into the faces of the epidemic. With heart and soul and considerable scholarship, Sullivan has written a book that offers hope and help for anyone affected by addiction."—Superior Reads "More even than demonstrating empathy for persons affected by abuse, Sullivan models commitment to tackling stigma to best combat the abuse."—CHOICE "Although much of her book tells the stories of Addicts and their families and explores new initiatives in the recovery industry, Sullivan makes clear in the prologue that this isn't only an academic take on an important topic."—Minnesota Alumni Table of ContentsContentsPrologueIntroduction: Opioids, Oral History, and the Rehab State1. Mothering Addiction: Lessons in Trauma Parenting2. Prognosis Cloudy: Who’s to Blame for an Overdose?3. Prescription for Humility: Opioids and Addiction Medicine4. Women of Substance: Harm Reduction in Minnesota5. Dissecting Stigma: Treatment ReimaginedConclusion: My Son, Relapsed and RecoveredAbout the Minnesota Opioid ProjectAcknowledgmentsNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisDrawing from an activist research project spanning Loja, Santo Domingo, New York, New Jersey, and Barcelona, this book offers a feminist intersectional analysis of the impact of migration on health and well-being. It assesses how social inequalities and migration and health policies, in Ecuador and destination countries, shape the experiences of migrants. The author also explores how individual and collective action challenges health, geopolitical, gender, sexual, ethnoracial, and economic disparities, and empowers communities. This is a thorough analysis of interpersonal, institutional, and structural mechanisms of marginalization and resistance. It will inform policy and research for better responses to migration’s negative effects on health, and progress towards greater equality and social justice.Trade Review"The book is valuable for sociologists and demographers—as well as practitioners working to improve migrant health—and would make an excellent addition to courses on topics such as migration, immigration, health, and the family." Social ForcesTable of Contents1. Introduction 2. Migration-related Health Processes 3. Coping with the Challenges of Migration 4. Post-migration Family Relationships 5. Transformative Border Politics 6. Conclusion

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Book SynopsisMarx argued that capitalist society acts against the core capacities, skills and talents of human beings, and that it also limits their realisation or channels them into activities related to profit rather than need. Bringing Marx’s theory of alienation forward to the present day, this book uniquely links it to health and well-being. Using case studies and vignettes of workers across different industries, it reveals their lived experiences, offering crucial insights into the insidious ways in which capitalism continues to damage human well-being. This is a resounding call for how society can change for the better.Table of ContentsPreface 1. What is Alienation? 2. Responding to Criticisms of Alienation Theory 3. Alienation and Wellbeing 4. Case Study: Social workers, the Compassionate Self, and Disappointed Jugglers 5. Is Alienation Theory Still Relevant? 6. Beyond Alienation?

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Book SynopsisWritings that sparkle with the psychedelic revolution. The Politics of Ecstasy is Timothy Leary's most provocative and influential exploration of human consciousness, written during the period from his Harvard days to the Summer of Love. Includes his early pronouncements on the psychedelic movement and his views on social and political ramifications of psychedelic and mystical experience. Here is the outspoken Playboy interview revealing the sexual power of LSD-a statement that many believe played a key role in provoking Leary's incarceration by the authorities; an early outline of the neurological theory that became Leary's classic eight-circuit model of the human nervous system; an insightful exploration of the life and work of novelist Hermann Hesse; an effervescent dialogue with humorist Paul Krassner; and an impassioned defense of what Leary called "The Fifth Freedom"-the right to get high.

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Book SynopsisWinner of the NBCC Award for General NonfictionNamed on Slate''s 50 Best Nonfiction Books of the Past 25 Years, Amazon''s Best Books of the Year 2015--Michael Botticelli, U.S. Drug Czar (Politico) Favorite Book of the Year--Angus Deaton, Nobel Prize Economics (Bloomberg/WSJ) Best Books of 2015--Matt Bevin, Governor of Kentucky (WSJ) Books of the Year--Slate.com's 10 Best Books of 2015--Entertainment Weekly's 10 Best Books of 2015 --Buzzfeed's 19 Best Nonfiction Books of 2015--The Daily Beast's Best Big Idea Books of 2015--Seattle Times' Best Books of 2015--Boston Globe's Best Books of 2015--St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Best Books of 2015--The Guardian's The Best Book We Read All Year--Audible's Best Books of 2015--Texas Observer's Five Books We Loved in 2015--Chicago Public Library's Best Nonfiction Books of 2015From a small town in Mexico to the boardrooms of Big Pharma to main streets nationwide, an explosive and shocking account of addiction in the heartland of America.In 1929, in the blue-collar city of Portsmouth, Ohio, a company built a swimming pool the size of a football field; named Dreamland, it became the vital center of the community. Now, addiction has devastated Portsmouth, as it has hundreds of small rural towns and suburbs across America--addiction like no other the country has ever faced. How that happened is the riveting story of Dreamland. With a great reporter's narrative skill and the storytelling ability of a novelist, acclaimed journalist Sam Quinones weaves together two classic tales of capitalism run amok whose unintentional collision has been catastrophic. The unfettered prescribing of pain medications during the 1990s reached its peak in Purdue Pharma's campaign to market OxyContin, its new, expensive--extremely addictive--miracle painkiller. Meanwhile, a massive influx of black tar heroin--cheap, potent, and originating from one small county on Mexico's west coast, independent of any drug cartel--assaulted small town and mid-sized cities across the country, driven by a brilliant, almost unbeatable marketing and distribution system. Together these phenomena continue to lay waste to communities from Tennessee to Oregon, Indiana to New Mexico.Introducing a memorable cast of characters--pharma pioneers, young Mexican entrepreneurs, narcotics investigators, survivors, and parents--Quinones shows how these tales fit together. Dreamland is a revelatory account of the corrosive threat facing America and its heartland.

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Book SynopsisUsing the narratives of women who use(d) drugs, this account challenges popular understandings of Appalachia spread by such pundits as JD Vance by documenting how women, families, and communities cope with generational systems of oppression. Prescription opioids are associated with rising rates of overdose deaths and hepatitis C and HIV infection in the US, including in rural Central Appalachia. Yet there is a dearth of studies examining rural opioid use. RX Appalachia explores the gendered inequalities that situate women’s encounters with substance abuse treatment as well as additional state interventions targeted at women who use drugs in one of the most impoverished regions in the US.Trade Review"At its very core, Rx Appalachia is a call to action for all of us to expand our consciousness of how poliitcal, social, and physical enviroments impact opiod use disorder. What do we do after we read it? Well, that is up to us." —Journal of Appalachian Studies "Lesly-Marie Buer's Rx Appalachia is a compelling account of substance abuse in Central Appalachia that at last puts race and gender at the forefront of analysis. Buer, a harm reductionist and medical anthropologist, offers a layered portrait of the lives led by women who use drugs and their experiences navigating treatment programs too often shaped by punitive impulses than evidence-based research. A rare book that combines a powerful systemic critique within humanely-rendered stories of coping and survival, Rx Appalachia is a clear and accessible primer about the people and places now synomous with America's new addiction crisis." —Elizabeth Catte, author of What You are Getting Wrong About Appalachia and Pure America "Lesly-Marie Buer’s ethnographic study RxAppalachia examines what happens to women and mothers who use drugs and get caught up in the intertwined therapeutic, rehabilitative, and often punitive practices of public and private addiction recovery programs including drug courts. Buer analyzes the entangled dimensions of care and cruelty, domination and love, family and community, and the discursive and disciplinary techniques that are involved in so-called “rehabilitation” efforts. What good such programs might do is often undercut by inadequate funding and by their tendency to ignore or worsen the stereotypes and the structural and systemic inequalities, constraints, and violence their clients face on a daily basis—often within the programs themselves. The ethnographic site of this brilliant book is Appalachia but it is a must-read for scholars, practitioners, students, concerned citizens, and clients everywhere." —Dwight B. Billings, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of Kentucky "Reproductive Justice demands that we provide parents who use drugs with sufficient resources such as housing and access to comprehensive reproductive health care, knowing that parents' well-being is intrinsically linked to that of their children. Dr Buer makes a strong case for why tax dollars spent on policing and incarceration are harmful and no substitute for adequate social supports and basic human rights. This book makes the case for why we can't simply wait on the state to rectify the many injustices that plague the lives of people and especially women in Appalachia - we must take care of each other now." —Anna Carella, Co-Director, Healthy and Free Tennessee "In this riveting account, Buer defies the media version of the opioid crisis in Appalachia, a story of overnight villains and victims. She listens to the women who for years have navigated punitive and highly gendered and racialized state policies, deeply unequal social structures, and state divestment. She asks women who use drugs--who have been told over and again how to “fix” themselves and to whose standards--what they believe they need for themselves and their caring networks of family and friends. Their refreshing narratives intertwine with Buer’s careful contextualization to produce a bold vision for harm reduction in Appalachia. A necessary book for those seeking to understand the opioid crisis and the broader political economy of which it is part." —Jessica Wilkerson, author of To Live Here, You Have to Fight: How Women Led Appalachian Movements for Social Justice "In the midst of the latest drug scare focused on opioids, pregnant women have once again become the objects of state surveillance and control. Lesly-Marie Buer's book arrives just in time to provide information needed to evaluate and challenge government responses that focus on separating families and fixing mothers rather than the economic, social and public health policies that undermine women's health and lives. With moving accounts by mothers of their desperate efforts to do whatever it takes to get their children back and revelations of sometimes shocking state action – including compelled religious education and prohibitions on needed medical treatment, this beautifully written book is a must read." —Lynn Paltrow, Executive Director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women "Anyone who does research or practice in rural communities affected by drug use will agree with my feeling that we have long needed this book. This deep ethnographic examination into the lives of women in Appalachia who use drugs serves a vital antidote to shallow representations of rural drug use in the age of the opioid epidemic. Buer is comprehensive in her approach to understanding not only the histories and inequities that contribute to drug use, but also the ways that the design of public health and social systems to address these health disparities inadvertently can harm those who they are meant to serve. While this book helps us to understand the larger inequities that have led us to here, it also begins to help us understand the path to move forward." —Claire Snell-Rood, author of No One will Let Her Live: Women's Struggle for Well-Being in a Delhi Slum

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Book Synopsis"A perfectly pitched medical mystery that will captivate you from page one."—Wes Ely, MD, MPH, author of Every Deep-Drawn Breath, winner of the 2022 Christopher Award for Literature.A suspenseful, authoritative account of how the battle against a mid-century polio epidemic sparked a revolution in medical care.Americans knew polio as the "summer plague." In countries further North, however, the virus arrived later in the year, slipping into the homes of healthy children as the summer waned and the equinox approached. It was described by one writer as "the autumn ghost."Intensive care units and mechanical ventilation are the crucial foundation of modern medical care: without them, the appalling death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic would be even higher. In The Autumn Ghost, Dr. Hannah Wunsch traces the origins of these two innovations back to a polio epidemic in the autumn of 1952. Drawing together compelling testimony from doctors, nurses, medical students, and patients, Wunsch relates a gripping tale of an epidemic that changed the world.In vivid, captivating chapters, Wunsch tells the dramatic true story of how insiders and iconoclasts came together in one overwhelmed hospital in Copenhagen to save the lives of many polio patients dying of respiratory failure. Their radical advances in care marked a turning point in the treatment of patients around the world—from the rise of life support and the creation of intensive care units to the evolution of rehabilitation medicine.Moving and informative, The Autumn Ghost will leave readers in awe of the courage of those who battled the polio epidemic, and grateful for the modern medical care they pioneered.Trade Review"[A] superb account of the ghastly 1952 polio outbreak in Copenhagen...[A] story of heroism and medical advancement, beautifully told by Wunsch...[She] writes...'Most people have no idea what they owe to this remarkable doctor and his colleagues in Copenhagen.' They will soon enough—if The Autumn Ghost receives the attention it deserves."—David Oshinsky, PhD, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History, JAMA review"Informative and clearly written...[The Autumn Ghost's] lessons should inform our attitudes toward medicine and societal norms going forward."—Winnipeg Free Press"An extraordinary story beautifully told...Hannah Wunsch recounts this gripping and emotional tale with clarity and compassion from every perspective. An instant classic of medical history, I loved it."—Dr. Jim Down, consultant in critical care and author of Life Support and Life in the Balance"A perfectly pitched medical mystery that will captivate you from page one."—Wes Ely, MD, MPH, author of Every Deep-Drawn Breath, winner of the 2022 Christopher Award for Literature."A tale told with tremendous compassion and precision. [Wunsch] brings a critical chapter in medical history alive with style, wit, and an impeccable eye for detail."—Siobhan Roberts, author of Genius at Play, The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway"The Autumn Ghost, in equal parts harrowing and inspiring, brings us back in time into the great twentieth-century polio epidemic, showing how science painfully but amazingly swiftly went from deadly ignorance to mastering the disease. A must-read for anyone who wants to know how medical knowledge actually develops."—Jordan Ellenberg, New York Times bestselling author of Shape and How Not to Be Wrong "In medical science, the path to breakthroughs is paved with wrong turns and dead ends. Wunsch invites us along on one such medical odyssey as doctors and researchers scramble to understand the etiology and transmission of polio. The result is a deeply researched, utterly compelling story. . . at once heartbreaking and inspiring. Never has a book made me so aware of my breathing and so thankful for the ability to do so with ease."—Olivia Campbell, New York Times bestselling author of Women in White Coats"A fabulous, fascinating book—a sweeping history of a disease (polio), of two medical specialties (anesthesia and intensive care), and of several technologies (for ventilation and vaccine) through the lens of the 1952 Danish epidemic. Wunsch's meticulous research and graceful prose clearly explain the science behind the achievements and animate poignant stories of illness, disability, courage, imagination, and professional jealousy."—Jacalyn Duffin, former president, American Association for the History of Medicine, Member of the Order of Canada, and author of History of Medicine: A Scandalously Short Introduction"The Autumn Ghost delivers a riveting account of how polio was controlled, including the neglected story of how people survived, recovered and adapted to continued disabilities. This history has intruded into our present. In July 2022, New York State announced the diagnosis of polio acquired in the state, after several polio-free decades. This excellent book relays the dramatic story of how earlier generations learned to respond, still relevant today."—Mary T Bassett, MD, FXB Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights at the Harvard School of Public Health and former New York State Health Commissioner"A beautiful and absorbing book about the history of polio. . . Wunsch tells the pressing story of the race to develop effective new technologies to ventilate patients amid a deathly global pandemic. It is also a beautiful story of accompaniment and of doing whatever it takes to keep thousands of patients alive—one person at a time."—Ophelia Dahl, global health advocate and co-founder of Partners in Health

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Book Synopsis***2020 winner of the Christopher Bland Prize***"Beautifully crafted and written, filled with darkness and light, compelling... She fights addiction with honesty and humour. And, like her, [we] come away changed forever." Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, RSL Christopher Bland PrizeWhen Michele Kirsch's father is killed in a train crash, her mother gets the vapours and Michele gets extremely nervous. By her mid-teens, she has found salvation in valium. Her favourite words on the prescription sheet are "Take As Needed", which she interprets as Take All The Time.Later, as a wife and mother, she adds alcohol into the mix, and before long her life is spinning out of control. Leaving home "for the sake of the family", she takes the scenic route to rehab, redemption and reinvention.But this is no misery memoir. Clean is a darkly comic tale about the difficult choices we have to make as we navigate our lives. While working as a domestic cleaner in her 50s, Michele finds herself living vicariously through other people's messes, tidying her way through early sobriety. As the Duster of Large Things, she taps into her natural nosiness to reveal the absurdities of a seemingly banal job.This is a remarkable, powerful, and often unbearably funny story in which cleaning and getting clean lead to a strange and magical form of redemption.Trade ReviewRarely can a dark memoir have been so comic, or a comic memoir so dark. * Ysenda Maxtone Graham *

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Book SynopsisChallenging a number of myths about living long term with or after cancer, this book offers new insights by delving into areas that are not usually spoken about. Written from a dual perspective- that of a psychologist who had breast cancer and who copes with the long-term effects of treatment - the book contests the assumption that the afflicted person will simply 'get better' or 'move through' to a better situation. Emotional and physical side-effects can worsen over time and people living beyond or with cancer often endure a mismatch between expectations and reality, because they have been told that life would be easier than it actually is. This can leave both those suffering longer term and those close to them confused and unprepared.Including testimonies with people who have had a cancer diagnosis and people in the medical profession, the book signposts ways that professionals may help and offers prompts for friends and relatives to have useful and open conversations with the person affected. It gives voice to many people who feel that their suffering is disputed and diminished by the prevailing narrative around recovery. Galgut includes discussion on relationships, work, trauma, fear of recurrence and the role of therapy. Giving an unflinchingly honest perspective, Living with the Long-Term Effects of Cancer sheds light on these struggles, in the belief that bringing this conversation to the forefront is key to improving life for those who are affected by cancer and who suffer longer term from its effects.Trade ReviewThis book is a remarkable testimony to the importance of psychological care, often missing in even our best cancer centres. Written by a psychologist and counsellor, who actually has been on her own cancer journey, she is well placed to analyse the basis of uncertainty every cancer patient will feel for the rest of their lives.The book is very readable and gratifyingly free of psycho-babble. It's very suitable for patients and their families as a useful aid to discussion. It contains interesting interviews with various cancer professionals who put forward their own perspectives. But the take home message is that whilst we can now cure more half of our cancer patients we need to do more to make sure their quality of life in body, mind and spirit is made as perfect as possible. Dr Galgut's short book is an excellent and thoughtful way into to this complex area for patients and indeed all health professionals dealing with cancer. -- Professor Karol Sikora, Consultant OncologistI have made so many notes, reading the book, that it looks like it has developed a severe case of measles. But the beauty of the book is that Dr. Galgut used medical language, albeit in easy-to-understand-form, so the reader can grab sentences from the copy and drop them into official letters, and use these when you write a letter about your treatment. There are lots of phrases to use that spring out from the pages, and after all - this is written by a doctor, so they gather their arguments in a 'medical' rather than an emotive way.Read it to reassure yourself you are NOT making a fuss. Here is a doctor who has experiencd the 'other' side, and is honest enough to admit there is a lot wrong with the way cancer patients can be treated. As I read it, I was nodding to myself in agreement - here was someone who had experiened the same problems as I had. -- After CancerThis book is a little package of experiences: not everyone suffers them but many do. Surely it's time to be realistic about the consequences of cancer treatment, the side effects which may last a lifetime.Truth telling is important but many shy away from facing hard experiences. Nevertheless it's time to be realistic about the short and long term side effects of cancer treatment for men as well as women. Not everyone suffers the life long pain and the fears, as well as the failure of those around them to understand, but very many do. Anyone who has read a previous book by Cordelia Galgut will know that she can make the hardest things readable and interesting, as she does here.All of us, doctors and patients, need this hard-hitting and truthful book. -- Ruth McCurry, Retired teacher and publisherBeing diagnosed with a malignant melanoma was the start of a journey, the most terrifying of my life as I go from check up to check up paranoid that every ache or pain is something sinister. I know that it's not a short journey I am in this for the long haul. Cordelia's book clearly illustrates what living with cancer is really like in a very honest, open and informative way from both from a sufferer's and counselling psychologist's perspective. It's particularly invaluable because she includes practical strategies for coping longer term, including allowing yourself to accept that what you are experiencing is real, and enabling you to have the conversations you need to have with medical professionals. -- Liz Lane, Retired Managing DirectorThis is a book I've been looking forward to reviewing. Dr Cordelia Galgut is a counselling psychologist, who writes from both the perspective of the professional, and as a cancer patient. She gets it....she understands that the cancer can leave deep emotional and physical scars.In her most recent book, she tackles head on, the often unspoken fact that many people who have had cancer can still suffer psychologically and physically for many years after the cancer treatment has passed. There is often a mismatch between what the health care professionals believe, which is that people will recover emotionally and physically over time - and the reality for some, who will still be struggling several years later.What I like about the book, is that it speaks for the person who has been through cancer, and gives pointers for health care professionals to understand how cancer still affects people many years after the original diagnosis. The book is broken down into nine chapters and covers a wide ranging number of relevant topics. This includes the fear of cancer's return, relationships, work, issues with male cancers, and the health care professional perspective. Threaded through the book are the author's personal perceptions. This provides an empathic and insightful view of how it is for those living with the long term effects of cancer.My big 'take home' message from reading this book is that the person's lived experience of cancer is very real....and the feelings and traumas post cancer can persist for many years. It's important that we who are listening to someone's story, validate their experience, and let people voice their reality. -- Sue Long, Online Cancer Support Specialist, Maggie’s CentresThe commitment, courage and insight of Ms Galgut displayed in this comprehensive account of the challenges of cancer survivorship 'from the front line' is both remarkable and inspiring.As one who has tried to support and campaign for hundreds of patients in these situations over thirty years I know that she speaks from the heart about what we all think, feel and endure.We can sincerely empathise with those living with fear and isolation in a world which says, 'Be glad you are alive'.This book needs wide distribution to sufferers in need of comfort and support. And -just as importantly - to medical professionals as a plea to listen and try to understand. -- Jan Millington, Cancer survivor with 'late effects'This is a very significant and courageous book for health professionals, patients, carers and family members written by a psychologist who was first diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer 15 years ago and is the author of two earlier books on emotional and physical effects of living with cancer... The chapters cover the struggle of facing up to long-term effects, the dread of recurrence, effects of cancer on relationships and work, and more detailed interviews with a nurse and three doctors as well as a separate chapter on the experience after treatment with male cancers. The book is clearly structured and written, with excellent summaries aimed at different constituencies. The analysis is incisive and frank: some of the deepest issues arise from an unconscious denial of our mortality when faced with the implications of cancer and, for patients, the dread of recurrence and having to undergo further painful and extended treatment when reserves of strength and resilience have already beensapped... The messages of this book could not be more important for our understanding of living with cancer, so it should be widely read and discussed. -- Paradigm ExplorerDr Galgut's book should be a must-read for patients who may be living with the longterm effects of treatment and who may have experienced some of the assumptions and prejudices that Dr Galgut writes about-they will benefit from the feeling of camaraderie that the topics covered in this book provide. This book is also an invaluable resource for health professionals, at any level, due to the plain language and inclusion of multiple resources, references and explanatory notes... I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in gaining a better understanding of the professional and patient issues regarding a diagnosis of cancer, its treatment and the long-term emotional and physical effects. Furthermore, it would be of interest to anyone who wishes to gain insight into the lived experience of someone with a dual perspective, as both health professional and patient. This is a perspective that Dr Galgut presents beautifully. -- Rhea Crichton, Clinical Nurse Specialist in Pain, Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust * British Journal of Nursing *Table of ContentsIntroduction. 1. Why is this book needed? 2. Why do we struggle to accept that long-term effects exist? 3. Dread of getting more cancer. 4. More long-term effects - physical and emotional. 5. Relationships and Cancer. 6. Work and Cancer. 7. Interviews with a Nurse and Three Doctors. 8. If only: The experience after treatment for male cancers (by Simon Crompton). 9. The Way Forward. Glossary

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Book SynopsisA practical, up-to-date resource for schools on substance use. It covers drug and alcohol use, but importantly also tackles newer concerns for schools, such as the use of performance-enhancing drugs and high-caffeine energy drinks.Trade ReviewThis is a timely book given the concerns that many people who work with young people will have about mental health and drug use. Ian provides the perfect blend of evidence and professional experience when highlighting what works and what doesn't, making this book a pragmatic resource for teachers, parents and others who work with young people. -- Ian Hamilton, Associate Professor, University of YorkI would urge those working in mental health and education to read this book. Ian achieves a rare feat of combining theory, evidence and practical application in an engaging and comprehensive narrative. This book will help many adults support their young people. -- Mike ArmigerThis book is a comprehensive, accessible, and must have contemporary guide to understanding and supporting young people in the 21st century.Each chapter is an excellent distillation of the author's clear regard for evidence based approaches, and is an informative and engaging resource for anyone working with young people with complex issues. -- Andy Maddison – Public Health Improvement Coordinator (Risk Taking Behaviours)This practical, wide-ranging and engaging book is an excellent resource for teachers, youth workers and parents. Based on evidence and firmly rooted in the experiences of young people and those who support them, Teen Substance Use, Mental Health and Body Image provides advice and strategies that will make a positive difference. -- Clare Stafford, CEO, The Charlie Waller Memorial TrustAn accessible and helpful guide for professionals looking to build skills and knowledge around adolescent wellbeing. As well as detailing best practice examples, Macdonald importantly highlights approaches which although well-intentioned, can potentially create more problems than they solve. Highly recommended reading. -- Rick Bradley, Specialist on Adolescent Mental Health and Substance UseTable of ContentsAcknowledgements; Preface; 1. Developing a Whole School Approach Around 'What Works' in Mental Health and Drug and Alcohol Prevention; 2. Bulging at the Seams: Exploring the Modern Policy Context for Mental Health and Drug Education and Prevention; 3. Theoretical Models of Adolescent Health Behaviours and Support; 4. Alcohol, Smoking, Social Norms and Engaging Parents; 5. Body Image and IPEDs; 6. Energy Drinks and Smart Drugs; 7. Cannabis, NPS and Approaches to 'Illicit' Drugs; 8. Delivering Effective Mental Health and Drug Education in School; 9. Developing Healthy and Positive Coping; Appendix: Organisations Producing Materials and Resources for Working with Children and Young People on Mental Health and Drug Use; References

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Book Synopsis'These essays lift back the skin to reveal something secret and precious, articulating private truths and distilling sensation into language ... this collection is a timely, triumphant celebration of our embodiment' - iNews Buried beneath layers of flesh, our hearts pump, our lungs inflate, our kidneys filter. These organs, and others, are essential to our survival but remain largely unknown to us. In Beneath the Skin, fifteen writers each explore a different body part: Naomi Alderman unravels the intestines and our obsession with food; Thomas Lynch celebrates the womb as a miracle; AL Kennedy explores the nose's striking ability to conjure memories; and Philip Kerr traces the remarkable history of brain surgery. Moving, intimate and often unexpected, this is an awe-inspiring voyage through the mysterious landscape of our bodies.Trade ReviewThese essays lift back the skin to reveal something secret and precious, articulating private truths and distilling sensation into language ... this collection is a timely, triumphant celebration of our embodiment * iNews *

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Book SynopsisThis book explores the experience and value of dancing for people living with the neurodegenerative disorder Parkinson''s disease. Sara Houston argues that the benefits of participatory dance are best understood through the experiences, lives, needs and challenges of people living with Parkinson''s who have chosen to dance.

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Book SynopsisThis unique collection of medical stories approaches its theme from many eras and perspectives. Some of the authors included were themselves physicians, notably Chekhov, Conan Doyle, Somerset Maugham and William Carlos Williams. Bulgakov, too, draws on his own experience as a doctor in rural Russia a century ago, while Anna Kavan's story from Asylum Piece, takes a surreal look inside a Swiss psychiatric clinic, and Lorrie Moore's witty, grief-stricken Mother in 'People Like Us Are the Only People Here' examines the feelings of a parent with a child in the Paediatric Oncology war - 'Peed Onk'. Maupassant, Stevenson, Kipling, Conrad, Graham Greene, O. Henry, J. G. Ballard, Robert Heinlein, Dorothy Parker, Jhumpa Lahiri and Alice Munro all feature. Doctors observe patients; patients observe doctors. Nurses go about their important business, not always appreciated. Not quite everyone is healed. The meaning of illness - does it have any? - and of life itself, is called into question - and all in the most entertaining way imaginable.

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Book SynopsisAsperger Syndrome and Alcohol exposes the unexplored problem of people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) using alcohol as a coping mechanism to deal with everyday life. Alcohol can relieve the anxiety of social situations and make those with ASDs feel as though they can fit in. Ultimately, however, reliance on alcohol can lead the user down a path of self-destruction and exacerbate existing problems.Utilising their professional and personal experience, the authors provide an overview of ASDs and of alcohol abuse, and explore current knowledge about where the two overlap. Tinsley explores his own personal history as someone with an ASD who has experienced and beaten alcohol addiction. He discusses how the impact of his diagnosis and his understanding of the condition played a huge part in his recovery, and how by viewing his life through the prism of autism, his confusion has been replaced by a greater understanding of himself and the world around him.This inspiring book on an under-researched area will be of interest to professionals working with people with ASDs, as well as individuals with ASDs who may be dealing with alcohol or substance misuse, and their families.Trade ReviewA concise, direct, soul-bearingly honest book part-written by a recovering alcoholic who only discovered that he had Asperger's syndrome once his recovery had begun...I found this a deeply moving book, partly because of the harrowing depiction of someone suffering in the tertiary stage of alcohol abuse byt, I think, mostly because of the unconditional love shown to him by his family and friends no matter how badly behaved nor how inconsiderate he was. -- Asperger UnitedAsperger Syndrome and Alcohol exposes the unexplored problem of people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) using alcohol as a coping mechanism to deal with everyday life. Alcohol can releive the anxiety of social situations and make those with ASDs feel as though they can fit in. Ultimately, however, reliance on alcohol can lead the user down a path of self-destruction and exacerbate existing problems. -- BILDWe both highly recommend this very readable and thoughtful book to all health and social care professionals - it is a gift to prefessionals and carers who want to understand and to work more effectively. -- Professional Social WorkThis book provides an overview of the very under-researched subject of autism and alcohol abuse. -- National Autism SocietyTable of ContentsForeword by Temple Grandin. Introduction. 1. Asperger Syndrome and Alcohol - Why Should There Be a Link? 2. Childhood and Adolescence - Where Does it Start? 3. The Adult Social World - Friendships, Relationships and Other People. 4. Employment - Drinking and the Workplace. 5.Beginning of the End - A Failing Strategy. 6. Drying Out - Support and Rehabilitation. 7. Life Beyond the Booze - Recovering Autistic Alcoholic. Conclusion. References. Resources. Appendix - Thoughts from Friends and Family.

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Book SynopsisSubstance misuse and its pervasive problems is a constant challenge for social work, health and related professionals today. With heightened political and policy emphasis on all aspects of substance misuse, it is paramount that professionals remain up-to-date on current issues and their responsibilities. Based on research and evidence, this book provides a sound basis for grounded and innovative practice.Leading international contributors outline holistic and specialist approaches to policy and practice, and highlight the shift in emphasis from immediate risk minimisation to long-term recovery, the importance of prevention and the pivotal role of workforce development. Issues surrounding work with children and families affected by substance misuse are explored, and ways of implementing new approaches revealed. The book also looks at the impact of the smoking ban in Scotland, and suggests ways to support tobacco use cessation. This book is essential reading for all front-line practitioners working with substance misusers, including social work, health professionals and counsellors.Trade ReviewThis book does a good job of covering and reconciling both ends of the spectrum - the things that never change as well as the new debates and rapid changes in the drugs field that have taken place over the last 25 years... It packs a lot into its 240 pages and most contributions are certainly interesting enough to set the reader off on a quest to find out more about each of the topics presented... A chapter provocatively entitled 'Anything new under the sun?' rightly acknowledges the complexity of a field where there are no easy answers, highlighting the ongoing interminable debates betwen 'abstinence' and 'harm reduction' in the quest for paths to 'recovery'... This book does well in covering such a wide-raging group of topics related to problem drug use. -- Drug and Alcohol TodayThe book serves as a valuable and scholarly resource for all those working in the field of substance abuse in the UK and indeed beyond. It is refreshing to see both alcohol and tobacco included in a book devoted to substance misuse -- Internet Law Book ReviewsTable of ContentsIntroduction. Joy Barlow MBE, University of Glasgow, UK. Part One The History of Drug and Alcohol Policy. 1. How We Got to Where We Are Now. Charlie Lloyd, University of York, UK. Part Two Alcohol and Tobacco. 2. Is Alcohol Different? Alcohol – Attitudes, Beliefs and Practice. Jack Law, Alcohol Focus Scotland, UK. The Importance of Partnerships in Alcohol Policy and Regulation. Gerard Vaughan and Megan Larken, both of the Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand, New Zealand. 3. Fresh Air? Second-Hand Smoke. Sally Haw, Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy, UK. Second Chance Learning: A Community-Development Approach to Smoking Cessation. Margaret Black, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, UK, Anne Bryce, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, UK and Linda McKie, Glasgow Caledonian University, UK. Part Three Treatment and Recovery, and the Wider Impacts of Substance Misuse. 4. Treatment and Recovery. Anything New Under the Sun? Brian A. Kidd, University of Dundee, UK. Does Drug Treatment in Scotland Work? Neil McKeganey, University of Glasgow, UK. 5. The Role of Employment in Recovery from Problem Drug Use. Joanne Neale, Oxford Brookes University, UK and Peter A. Kemp, University of Oxford, UK. Employment Projects – Examples in Practice. Bernadette Monaghan, Apex Scotland, UK. 6. Children Affected by Parental Drug and Alcohol Misuse. Hidden Harm – Working with Serious Parental Drug Misuse. Donald Forrester, University of Bedfordshire, UK. The Role of Training in Changing the Lives of Children Affected by Parental Substance Misuse. Joyce Nicholson, STRADA, UK. 7. We Are Family. The Role of Families. Vivienne Evans OBE, Adfam, UK. Making Family a Part of the Treatment. Maurizio Coletti, Itaca Europe, Italy. 8. Drugs and Crime. Toby Seddon, University of Manchester, UK. Part Four Prevention. 9. Redefining Drug Prevention. Harry Sumnall and Lisa Jones, both of Liverpool John Moores University, UK. 10. Children, Young People and Prevention. Richard Ives, educari, UK. 11. The Impact of Social Exclusion and Poverty on Education and Prevention. Diverse Communities – Diverse Needs: Delivering Information on Drugs and Drug Services to Members of Black and Minority Ethnic Communities. Jane Fountain, University of Central Lancashire, UK. Wider Prevention – Poverty and Social Exclusion. James Egan, East Glasgow Community Health and Care Partnership, UK. Part Five Integrated Services and Workforce Development. 12. Integrated Services. Neil Hunter, Glasgow Addiction Services, UK. 13. Messages for the Workforce. Joy Barlow MBE. The Editor. The Contributors. Subject Index. Author Index.

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Book Synopsis"Among the earliest artistic descriptions of the hallucinogenic experience in European literature, the four pieces in this volume document Gautier’s and Baudelaire’s own involvement in the Club of Assassins, who met under the auspices of Dr Moreau to investigate the mind-enhancing effects of hashish, wine and opium. As well as providing an absorbing account of nineteenth-century drug use, Hashish, Wine, Opium captures the spirit of French Romanticism in its struggle to free the mind from the shackles of the humdrum and the conventional, and serves as a fascinating prologue to the psychedelic literature of the following century."Trade ReviewReveals to us enchanting and visionary landscapes, and beguiles us with vegetable correspondences, musical transformations and watery expanses. -- Margaret Drabble

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Book SynopsisFrom interactions with hot oncologists to life-threatening hospital stays to a really bad case of glandular fever. Whether a diagnosis is life-altering or treatable, a total surprise or painfully invisible, The Emma Press Anthology of Illness explores what we wish people knew about being ill, and whether finding that 'new normal' is ever possible.

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Book SynopsisLees draws on Burroughs' search for an addiction cure to discover a ground-breaking treatment for shaking palsy, and learns how to use the deductive reasoning of Sherlock Holmes to diagnose patients. Lees follows Burroughs into the rainforest and under the influence of yage (ayahuasca) gains insights that encourage him to pursue new lines of pharmacological research and explore new forms of science.Trade Review“Lees takes the reader on an extraordinary journey inside and outside the brain. His deep humanity and honesty shines throughout. The inevitable comparison with the late, great Oliver Sacks is entirely just.” —Raymond Tallis “[Lees’s] book is not just a wonderfully unexpected addition to the Burroughs literature, but an important polemic for more humane and imaginative medical research.” —Phil Baker, The Times Literary Supplement "It is hard to believe that this extraordinary memoir is not fiction, but every word turns out to be rooted in hospital life and literary experience. Andrew Lees is an internationally distinguished neurologist, Britain’s leading Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s expert. Mentored By a Madman is both an exotic memoir and a passionate appeal for a more humane approach to bio-medical research. In associating himself with Burroughs, Professor Lees is arguing that potential breakthroughs in the treatment of neuro-degenerative diseases are most likely to come from a relaxation of the stringent controls surrounding the profession.” —Robert McCrum, The Observer "Yes, do read this book to discover how William S. Burroughs inspired a professional lifetime of brilliant medical research. But read it as well, perhaps even more so, to be reminded of what genuine medical care can and should be…No technical knowledge is required to profit from this marvellous book.” —Canadian Bulletin of Medical History "Mentored by a Madman is the story of Andrew Lees' uncommon career in neurology, with his many scientific insights into movement disorders, his rapport with the past, and his talent for literary expression. Creative inspiration in neuroscience, Lees tells us, can come from unlikely sources—the notebooks of Richard Spruce, great 19th-century botanical explorer of Brazil; and Burroughs, the maverick interpreter of drug experience. There are parallels with the writings of Oliver Sacks, especially when patients enter the narrative. To a greater degree, though, this book inhabits the neurologist's inner world—observing, attending to detail, engaged in detective work." —Peter A. Kempster, Neurology "Mentored by a Madman is an original and interesting book from one of the world's leading experts in the field of movement disorders...The beautiful prose and original contents suggest comparisons with the writings of authors of the calibre of Arthur Conan Doyle, Aldous Huxley, and Oliver Sacks...Surely this is the kind of book that curious readers who are used to thinking outside the box enjoy the most." —The British Journal of Psychiatry "This book encourages us to keep an open mind and to explore both sides of the path…We would recommend the book as an enjoyable reminder of why we practice medicine, why clinical research and medicine complement each other so well, and as a reflection on the endless and fascinating variation of human experience.” —Practical Neurology (UK) "Andrew Lees has written a fascinating and provocative memoir.”— Jon Palfreman, Journal of Parkinson’s Disease “This book is highly recommended to anyone who wants to reimagine the magic of neurology, science, life, the universe and everything." —Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry "A.J. Lees' Mentored by a Madman is a kaleidoscopic mix of his experiences as a neurologist, his private passions and how they have informed his career, as well as his thoughts regarding some of the bureaucracy that limits research and medical practice today. What gives this book such a unique perspective is the part played by the titular 'madman'...It is a rare thing to find a book with such a unique perspective and accompanying content; however, this is exactly what Mentored by a Madman provides...The book is also reminiscent in some ways of the literary work of Oliver Sacks...As well as a personal account of Lees' experiences, this book also serves as a call for more open-mindedness and freedom in our exploration of medical science." —The Lancet

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Book SynopsisA TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR. An undercover investigation into the synthetic-drug epidemic. A new group of chemicals is radically transforming the recreational-drug landscape. Known as novel psychoactive substances (NPS), they range from so-called ‘legal highs’ like Spice, to synthetic opioids – most famously, the deadly fentanyl. Designed to replicate the effects of established drugs like cocaine, ecstasy, marijuana, and heroin, NPS are synthesised in laboratories. They are cheap to produce and easy to transport. They are also extremely potent and often deadly. Originally developed for medicinal purposes, and then hijacked by rogue chemists, who change their molecular structures to stay ahead of the law, these chemicals’ effects can be impossible to predict. What we do know is that they have triggered the biggest drug epidemic that America has ever seen, and which is now spreading internationally. In Fentanyl, Inc., award-winning journalist Ben Westhoff goes undercover to investigate the shadowy world of synthetic drugs — becoming, in the process, the first journalist to infiltrate a Chinese fentanyl lab. He tracks down the drug baron in New Zealand who unintentionally helped to start the synthetic-drug revolution; prowls St. Louis streets with a former fentanyl dealer to understand how the epidemic started; and chronicles the lives of addicts and dealers, families of victims, law enforcement officers, and underground drug-awareness organisers in the US and Europe. Fentanyl, Inc. is essential reading on a global calamity we are only just beginning to understand.Trade Review‘It’s a sucker-punch of a read … Westhoff exposes, with cinematic scope and reams of data, a new epidemic.’ -- Harriet Alexander * The Daily Telegraph *‘Groundbreaking.’ -- Eleanor Halls * The Telegraph *‘An eye-opening work of journalism, informed on the legal and pharmaceutical aspects without losing sight of the human cost.’ -- Alastair Mabbott * The Herald *‘A fascinating book.’ -- Seán Moncrieff * The Moncrieff Show *‘Through his courageous reporting, Ben Westhoff takes us to the heart of the problem. In Fentanyl, Inc. he shines a light on the human wreckage and damage caused by the most powerful and dangerous of the opioids, fentanyl, and its derivatives. He shows us how addiction, mislabeling, purposefully or mistakenly mixed drugs lead to tragic ends. The drug is often created out of factories operating with the permission of the Chinese government. To solve this epidemic, we must understand it. Make no mistake; the fentanyl problem is a global issue. Fentanyl, Inc. is a must-read, pulling the curtain back and showing us how this human tragedy occurs and how insidious and addictive a drug can be.’ -- Katherine Tobin, PhD, Former Member of the U.S.-China Economic & Security Review Commission‘A necessary and sobering look at the opioid crisis and how it is not as simple as it appears on the surface. Well-researched and user-friendly for all readers. An important book.’ -- Debra Ginsberg * Bay Books *‘Drawing material from official reports, drug databases, scores of interviews, and years of personal research, Westhoff presents an unflinching, illuminating portrait of a festering crisis involving a drug industry that thrives as effectively as it kills. Highly sobering, exemplary reportage delivered through richly detailed scenarios and diversified perspectives.’ STARRED REVIEW * Kirkus Reviews *‘This is an exceptionally useful and well-timed book. I hope anyone concerned about this era’s new addiction epidemic will read it and put its messages to use. Ben Westhoff very skilfully combines pharmacology, politics, law enforcement, and gripping international intrigue in his account of America’s number-one public health problem. I hope Fentanyl, Inc. is widely read and influential.’ -- James Fallows, award-winning journalist and author of China Airborne‘In Fentanyl, Inc., Ben Westhoff lays bare the twisted history that led to opioids wreaking havoc on twenty-first century America. If you want to understand the bloody cycle of addiction and death gripping the nation, you need to read this book.’ -- Ioan Grillo, author of El Narco and Gangster Warlords‘An information-packed work of reporting that traces the rise of designer drugs, including synthetic and/or more dangerous versions of weed, acid, and heroin, the last of which gives the book its title. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that’s chemically similar to morphine and heroin, is the top cause of fatal drug overdoses in the United States. The most illuminating parts of the book are those that reveal the business practices of Chinese labs that supply illicit fentanyl to U.S. dealers. These labs are a source of death and destabilisation for our country, American officials say, while Chinese leaders contend that it’s on us to deal with Americans’ appetite for the stuff.’ -- Francie Diep * Pacific Standard *‘Westhoff explores the many-tentacled world of illicit opioids, from the streets of East St. Louis to Chinese pharmaceutical companies, from music festivals deep in the Michigan woods to sanctioned ‘shooting up rooms’ in Barcelona, in this frank, insightful, and occasionally searing exposé ... Offers a truly multifaceted view of the landscape of fentanyl use and abuse. The disparate narrative strands he weaves together — including tragic stories of drug users, straightforward analysis of the history of opioid use, tension-filled episodes of drug runs and supplier meet-ups, and the humane and hopeful work of the ‘harm reduction’ movement—all come together to provide a more complex understanding of the rise of, and response to, the opioid epidemic. Westhoff’s well-reported and researched work will likely open eyes, slow knee-jerk responses, and start much needed conversations.’ * Publishers Weekly *‘Excellent’ -- Mary Wakefield * The Spectator *‘Will assist policymakers, activists, and general readers in understanding better how to respond to the drug crisis that is only more intractable now.’ * Library Journal *‘So many substance abuse books are a mix of hysterical in tone and a disappointing ‘paint by numbers’ in their execution, but [Fentanyl, Inc.] really stands out for its research, journalism, and overall analysis ... It is also a great book on China, and how China and the Chinese chemicals industry works, backed up by extensive original investigation ... Definitely recommended.’ -- Tyler Cowen * Marginal Revolution *‘Timely and agonising … [Westhoff’s] book is the product of a four-year deep-dive into the world of designer drugs, and it’s an impressive work of investigative journalism. He interviewed 160 people and visited laboratories all over the world; he even infiltrated a pair of Chinese drug operations.’ * USA Today *‘A history lesson on American drug use and drug laws, a crash course in chemistry and neuroscience, a multifaceted portrait of addiction, and a look at how harm reduction programs can atone for the failures of the War on Drugs … A finely woven and accessible analysis of the connection between university chemistry professors, dark web sales, drug cartels, law enforcement, and the dealers and addicts dependent on it … Westhoff is a skilled and empathetic biographer, and this gift serves the composite of the dealers, users, and bereaved of Fentanyl, Inc. … It’s in this focus on the human cost of the crisis, of empathy over criminalisation, that this accomplished book feels most urgently important.’ * St. Louis Post-Dispatch *‘The most frightening book of the year, and it’s mandatory reading … Epic … This is a story about people, and Fentanyl, Inc. features a roster of villains and victims who stray far from movie archetypes.’ * Dig Boston *‘Setting Fentanyl, Inc. apart from most other books that focus on the supply-side of illegal drugs, Westhoff smartly avoids pro-drug-war narratives that push for an intensified law-and-order response to the proliferation of more potent synthetic drugs … The War on Drugs and misguided law enforcement efforts have not stemmed the spread of fentanyl, but instead have contributed to its takeover, Westhoff carefully explains.’ * Filter *‘Extensively reported and vividly written … Westhoff elevates his impressive examination of the opioid epidemic by reporting on the US government’s failed war on drugs and the promise of innovative ‘harm reduction’ policies that recognise that ‘Just Say No’ is a losing proposition.’ * National Book Review *‘Westhoff looks at the new wave of synthetic drugs that are taking the opioid epidemic to a whole new deadly level. He managed to go undercover into one of the many labs in China where these drugs are being manufactured, and the results of his research there and elsewhere are terrifying … Anyone who is interested in learning more about the opioid crisis, or has read Dopesick, is going to want to check this out.’ * Omnivoracious, the Amazon Book Review *‘A detailed and far-ranging investigation into the production, marketing, and usage of fentanyl reveals an intertwined business network that spans continents and kills thousands.’ * Shelf Awareness *‘In this gripping investigation, Westhoff recounts the deadly consequences of synthetically made drugs and how this phenomenon is beginning spread internationally.’ * Happy Mag *‘The way [Fentanyl, Inc.] looked at every aspect of the novel psychoactive substance trade was unique. From chemists manipulating chemical structures of precursors to fentanyl before countries can ban them, to the dealers, end users and those who want to change the way addiction is treated, Westhoff details it all ... this book is an eyeopener to anyone who reads it of just how coordinated and advanced the illicit drug trade is in aiming to get new highs to market at any cost.’ * Sam Still Reading *‘Fentanyl, Inc. is a wake-up call to us all. Shocking and unnerving.’ -- Judith Baragwanath * Noted *‘The information uncovered by Westhoff, an investigative reporter, will no doubt prove useful to lawmakers, addiction counsellors, and anyone else who is dealing with opioid addiction ... But where the book really shines is in Westhoff’s ability to get inside the lives of his characters, from addicts like Henke and Schwandt, to the scientists who initially developed opioids, to the Chinese chemists who are manufacturing fentanyl knockoffs — and profiting hugely off the global rise of opioid addiction ... a feat of reporting, to be sure. And while the many details Westhoff uncovered are likely to leave some readers enraged, Fentanyl, Inc. is an important book that arrives at a key juncture in the opioid crisis.’ -- Arlene Weintraub * The New York Journal of Books *‘[E]pic ... like Breaking Bad, sure — meets Night of the Living Dead meets New Jack City, Gummo, Kids and Gremlins, with a cast from a lot of the places on President Donald Trump’s ‘shithole’ list ... Westhoff includes ample relevant history.’ -- Chris Faraone * Little Village *‘A really fascinating book on a terrifying subject.’ * Joe Rogan *‘Excellent … Readable and alternately engaging and chilling in its account of the development, deployment, and devastating consequences of NPS … Politicians, police, and the public continue to debate how to handle the use of psychoactive substances in our culture and legal system. Westhoff’s Fentanyl, Inc. should be required reading for anyone who wishes to contribute to a knowledgeable discussion.’ * Winnipeg Free Press *‘A fascinating look into how China is playing a major role in the spread of fentanyl across the US. The book connects the dots between the pharmaceutical companies and their role in the opioid crisis with the Chinese labs manufacturing the illicit fentanyl and manoeuvring it through Mexico to get it into the US. Highly recommend it!’ * Yahoo Finance *Praise for Original Gangstas ‘I trust Ben Westhoff. I trust him to report a story and I trust him to tell a story, and that's exactly what he's done here in Original Gangstas. He's taken what's always felt like an almost impossibly knotted string of storylines and plot points in gangsta rap, the most turbulent version of the most popular music on the planet, and turned them into an airtight and unflinching book. Original Gangstas is as resolute as the people and ideas it sets out to profile, and that is no small feat.’ -- Shea Serrano, New York Times bestselling author of The Rap Year BookPraise for Original Gangstas ‘A provocative, multifaceted portrait of essential rap pioneers who ushered the hip-hop music scene to greatness … As raw, authoritative, and unflinching as the music his narrative chronicles, Westhoff comprehensively uncovers the factual roots of the gangsta rap movement and admirably credits those whose footprints paved the way for the younger rappers emerging today … An elaborately detailed, darkly surprising, definitive history of the LA gangsta rap era.’ STARRED REVIEW * Kirkus *Praise for Dirty South ‘Packed with lively reporting and colourful social history … doesn't shy away from the bigger questions. Westhoff grapples with Southern rap's troubling racial politics and takes on the critics.’ * Rolling Stone *

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Book SynopsisFrom AA Grapevine, inspiring stories about how getting sober can lead to a rich, rewarding life. Fun in Sobriety features 50-plus inspiring stories by members of Alcoholics Anonymous about the many ways they've learned to have a good time. Getting sober is not easy, but through taking action and developing a sober network, life can begin to take on new, exciting adventures. The stories in this book show how AA members have enhanced their lives now that they're sober. Chapters include: travel (road trips, cruises, etc.), outdoor activities (hiking, biking, camping), arts & hobbies (dancing, singing, painting, carpentry), social events (parties, holidays, events) and, of course interesting AA activities and sober events.

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