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Book Cover for: Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer, Barbara Ehrenreich

Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer

Barbara Ehrenreich

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Bestselling author of Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich, explores how we are killing ourselves to live longer, not better.
A razor-sharp polemic which offers an entirely new understanding of our bodies, ourselves, and our place in the universe, NATURAL CAUSES describes how we over-prepare and worry way too much about what is inevitable. One by one, Ehrenreich topples the shibboleths that guide our attempts to live a long, healthy life -- from the importance of preventive medical screenings to the concepts of wellness and mindfulness, from dietary fads to fitness culture.
But NATURAL CAUSES goes deeper -- into the fundamental unreliability of our bodies and even our "mind-bodies," to use the fashionable term. Starting with the mysterious and seldom-acknowledged tendency of our own immune cells to promote deadly cancers, Ehrenreich looks into the cellular basis of aging, and shows how little control we actually have over it. We tend to believe we have agency over our bodies, our minds, and even over the manner of our deaths. But the latest science shows that the microscopic subunits of our bodies make their own "decisions," and not always in our favor.

We may buy expensive anti-aging products or cosmetic surgery, get preventive screenings and eat more kale, or throw ourselves into meditation and spirituality. But all these things offer only the illusion of control. How to live well, even joyously, while accepting our mortality -- that is the vitally important philosophical challenge of this book.

Drawing on varied sources, from personal experience and sociological trends to pop culture and current scientific literature, NATURAL CAUSES examines the ways in which we obsess over death, our bodies, and our health. Both funny and caustic, Ehrenreich then tackles the seemingly unsolvable problem of how we might better prepare ourselves for the end -- while still reveling in the lives that remain to us.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Twelve
  • Publish Date: Apr 10th, 2018
  • Pages: 400
  • Language: English
  • Edition: Large Print - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.20in - 5.90in - 1.20in - 1.10lb
  • EAN: 9781538730928
  • Categories: • Death & Dying• Disease & Health Issues• Healthy Living

About the Author

Barbara Ehrenreich (1941-2022) was a bestselling author and political activist, whose more than a dozen books include Natural Causes, Living with a Wild God, the award winning essay collection Had I Known, and Nickel and Dimed, which the New York Times described as "a classic in social justice literature." An award-winning journalist, she frequently contributed to Harper's, The Nation, The New York Times, and TIME magazine. Ehrenreich was born in Butte, Montana, when it was still a bustling mining town. She studied physics at Reed College and earned a Ph.D. in cell biology from Rockefeller University. Rather than going into laboratory work, she got involved in activism, and soon devoted herself to writing her innovative journalism.

More books by Barbara Ehrenreich

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Book Cover for: Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America (20th Anniversary Edition), Barbara Ehrenreich
Book Cover for: Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy, Barbara Ehrenreich
Book Cover for: Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer, Barbara Ehrenreich
Book Cover for: Fear of Falling: The Inner Life of the Middle Class, Barbara Ehrenreich
Book Cover for: Complaints & Disorders [Complaints and Disorders]: The Sexual Politics of Sickness, Barbara Ehrenreich
Book Cover for: Had I Known: Collected Essays, Barbara Ehrenreich
Book Cover for: Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War, Barbara Ehrenreich
Book Cover for: Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking Is Undermining America, Barbara Ehrenreich
Book Cover for: Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream, Barbara Ehrenreich
Book Cover for: This Land Is Their Land: Reports from a Divided Nation, Barbara Ehrenreich
Book Cover for: The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment, Barbara Ehrenreich
Book Cover for: For Her Own Good: Two Centuries of the Experts Advice to Women, Barbara Ehrenreich
Book Cover for: Kipper's Game, Barbara Ehrenreich
Book Cover for: Living with a Wild God: A Nonbeliever's Search for the Truth about Everything, Barbara Ehrenreich
Book Cover for: Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich

Critics’ reviews