Shapeshifters

A Doctor’s Notes on Medicine & Human Change

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Buy on Amazon Buy on Waterstones.com
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app

1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 3 May 2018 | Archive Date 19 Apr 2018

Talking about this book? Use #Shapeshifters #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!


Description

Unreliable bodies and shifting symptoms are all in a day's work for a GP. In his years of practising, Gavin Francis has seen it all: the promising law student trapped under the spell of anorexia; the bodybuilder whose use of illegal steroids threatens his fertility; the teenager agonising over the perplexing physical dramas of puberty; and the surprisingly upbeat woman growing a horn in the centre of her forehead. In Shapeshifters he draws on his patients' bodily transformations, both welcome and unwelcome, bringing together case histories and accounts from the history of medicine, art, literature, myth and magic to show how the very essence of being human is change.

Unreliable bodies and shifting symptoms are all in a day's work for a GP. In his years of practising, Gavin Francis has seen it all: the promising law student trapped under the spell of anorexia;...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781781257739
PRICE £16.99 (GBP)
PAGES 320

Average rating from 3 members


Featured Reviews

-Netgalley Review-

I walked in reading this book with very few expectations; I have never read anything by author before, but I was interested in medical writings, and tales of the human body intrigues me as a layman with no medical expertise. This book offers a sharp and comprehensive look into the nature of humanity, how it works, and what the future have in store for us as individuals and as a collective.

The book describes humans as, to paraphrase lightly, creatures in constant change and flux. With philosophical discussion our transformations from birth to adolescence to our eventual death, the book offers a well-written medical perspective juxtaposed with philosophical and cultural context from history. An interesting read that enriched my cultural landscape and my understanding of the human body, which admittedly never extentded beyond high-school biomechanics and biology classes. The writing was not confusing nor is it filled with jargon, yet it conveys the medical expertise of the author and his intended message just fine.

An amazing read that I finished in three days due to the amazing writing and the intrinsic value offered by the book as it concluded on a philosophical note that brought his anecdotal case studies and knowledge full circle.

Would recommend to readers interested in Medical sciences and and/or philosophy in relation humans. This is an enriching read that offer sharp insights regardless of your level of medical knowledge and is bound to fascinate.

Was this review helpful?

An interesting book about the human body and transformations that it goes through.

Was this review helpful?

Readers who liked this book also liked: