A Journey Through the Changing Human Body
by Gavin Francis
From birth to death, a lyrical exploration of the role of transformation in human life.
To be alive is to be in perpetual metamorphosis: growing, healing, learning, aging. In Shapeshifters, physician and writer Gavin Francis considers the inevitable changes all of our bodies undergo - such as birth, puberty, and death, but also laughter, sleeping, and healing - and those that only some of our bodies will: like getting a tattoo, experiencing psychosis, suffering anorexia, being pregnant, or undergoing a gender transition. In Francis's hands, each event becomes an opportunity to explore the meaning of identity and the natures-biological, psychological, and philosophical-of our selves. True to its own subject, Shapeshifters combines Francis's lyrical imagination and deep knowledge of medicine and the humanities for a life-altering read.
"Starred Review. Francis always makes you think. Captivating medical narratives that fit well alongside those of Oliver Sachs, Atul Gawande, Jerome Groopman, and Berton Roueché." - Kirkus
"Francis's wide-ranging experience and curiosity produce fascinating samples of medical and cultural approaches to human change, albeit ones best consumed in small portions." - Publishers Weekly
"This stylish and exhilarating collection of essays comes from a wide-ranging mind and a profound humanity. With warmth and wit, Gavin Francis examines the body's strategies for survival and change, embedding his thoughts in a broad frame of reference from across human culture and history. Each piece is a pleasure to read, and in sum they are inspiring." - Hilary Mantel, Man Booker Prize-winning author of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies
"Steeped as much in history as in the future, we might describe this book as an audacious attempt to write a manifesto for a trans-human future (read it to understand what that phrase might mean)." - Siddartha Mukherjee, author of The Emperor of All Maladies and The Gene
"Wonderful, written with a deep feeling for language. A writer-physician who sees the drama and beauty in human life." - Annie Dillard, author of An American Childhood and Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
"A wonderful series of meditations - clinical, anthropological, literary and deeply humane - on his patients and their illnesses." - Henry Marsh, author of Do No Harm
This information about Shapeshifters was first featured
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Gavin Francis is a physician and the award-winning author of four books, including Adventures in Human Being, Empire Antarctica; and True North. A regular contributor to the London Review of Books, Guardian, and New York Review of Books, Francis lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.
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