acsaper's review

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2.0

The arguments against health made in this volume are really anything but. Rather, the various authors challenge our current conceptions of 'health.' While widely accepted as a ubiquitous good, many argue that 'health' is in fact a social and political construct, often used to buttress certain agendas while diminishing others. In turn, to be truly for health, one must acknowledge and challenge the commonly held but little questioned conceptions of what is healthy.

The points made by the authors are interesting and definitely worth considering. However, to a casual reader not looking for scholastic sources to cite, the writing is a bit dense and academically dramatic. For a good introduction to the subject, a paragraph long abstract of each article would likely suffice.

smallbean's review against another edition

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challenging informative slow-paced

2.0

grem_ler's review

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challenging informative medium-paced

4.5

margaret_adams's review

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A multi-disciplinary critique of what we mean by "health" and the ways in which the word has become a euphemism for other moral, social, and political ideals. Super thought provoking, a great find. If nothing else, this book forced me to examine assumptions.

tvancort's review

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3.0

I barely got started on this before I had to return it to the NYU library. Then I got an NYPL copy, and finished enough of it to add this book to my "read" list (also that meant I could try the barcode scanner feature of the Goodreads iPhone app, which is super-shiny. Yay!)

classiccaitlin's review

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4.0

Great collection of essays on a topic I’m becoming more and more passionate about. The only thing that was very problematic to me was the concept of obesity as being legitimate to some of the authors. They were challenging the narrative that all fat people are unhealthy, but they didn’t go far enough and challenge the whole concept of obesity and how it’s measured and used in society.

maevekilcarr's review

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challenging informative reflective slow-paced

2.5

eliwray's review against another edition

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3.0

The essays included, not surprisingly, vary widely in quality; my individual ratings might give equal representation to the full spectrum of 1-5 stars. But there's a lot of good questions raised here as to what purpose the concept of health serves, along with analysis of how assumptions and definitions of health reinforce oppressive, death-dealing structures. I am especially interested in pursuing more writing from Dorothy Roberts and Kathleen LeBesco.

nicholasbobbitt1997's review against another edition

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2.0

This is an interesting take on this topic, if patronizing and supporting people who choose to do things which society considers disgusting and which professional doctors consider unhealthy like smoking or overeating. I was recommended this book by a professor and I don't see why, other than it being "interesting", or "brave" as the English might say.

zombiezami's review

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5.0

This book definitely reshaped the way I view obesity, as well as a number of other health issues.
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