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wxlamora's review against another edition
4.0
I was gifted THE PUZZLE SOLVER by Hachette Books as part of their #HBSocialClub. Thank you, Hachette!
The Puzzle Solver is a nonfiction study into the life and suffering of Whitney DaFoe. Leading a youthful life of travel, adventure and creation, Whitney suddenly becomes sick in his early twenties experiencing massive fatigue, headaches and sensitivity. He never gets better. Instead, he slowly loses the ability to care for himself, live alone, get out of bed, experience light, sound and activity.
He is eventually diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis, or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. They refer to this disease as ME / CFS throughout the book. The tricky thing about this disease is that most common tests, vitals, scans, etc show no abnormalities and patients are commonly disbelieved by the medical field - leaving them with no care and only suffering.
Whitney’s father, Dr. Ronald W. Davis, is a talented physician and researcher who begins to dedicate himself to his sons mysterious disease. He seeks funding, leads conferences, brings on colleagues as volunteers - all while working and tending to his family and extremely unwell son.
The purpose of this book is to continue to spread awareness of this mysterious and awful disease. The work and research continues - the needle moving a little further every year. Mysterious illness are so terrifying and dangerous to the individual, and if someone can read this book or articles about ME/CFS and potentially get an accurate diagnosis for a suffering loved one, then the work of Dr. Davis and the reporting by Tracie White has done its job.
The Puzzle Solver is a nonfiction study into the life and suffering of Whitney DaFoe. Leading a youthful life of travel, adventure and creation, Whitney suddenly becomes sick in his early twenties experiencing massive fatigue, headaches and sensitivity. He never gets better. Instead, he slowly loses the ability to care for himself, live alone, get out of bed, experience light, sound and activity.
He is eventually diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis, or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. They refer to this disease as ME / CFS throughout the book. The tricky thing about this disease is that most common tests, vitals, scans, etc show no abnormalities and patients are commonly disbelieved by the medical field - leaving them with no care and only suffering.
Whitney’s father, Dr. Ronald W. Davis, is a talented physician and researcher who begins to dedicate himself to his sons mysterious disease. He seeks funding, leads conferences, brings on colleagues as volunteers - all while working and tending to his family and extremely unwell son.
The purpose of this book is to continue to spread awareness of this mysterious and awful disease. The work and research continues - the needle moving a little further every year. Mysterious illness are so terrifying and dangerous to the individual, and if someone can read this book or articles about ME/CFS and potentially get an accurate diagnosis for a suffering loved one, then the work of Dr. Davis and the reporting by Tracie White has done its job.
reader_of_books88's review against another edition
4.0
This book was very informative, and if you don't know anything about ME/CFS, this is a good book to learn more about it and its history in the US. I have ME/CFS myself, and felt very seen. It's not common to see books that take the illness as seriously as this book does. I really enjoyed Ron Davis' story of how he became a scientist, and how he turned to ME/CFS as his field of interest after previously working on DNA. Whitney Dafoe's story was interesting to me as well, and it was wonderful to read about his family's love and care for him.
The reason I'm not giving this 5 stars is because I was uncomfortable with some of the things the author did. For example, when she stares through the keyhole of Whitney Dafoe's bedroom door without him knowing, and studies his body, and describes it for the reader? That's creepy and not okay. She also wants to interview a couple with ME/CFS. After contacting them and not getting an invite, she drives to their house anyway. This would be rude in any situation, but when you know these people are ill and have to be very careful with their energy, and that your visit will likely cause them to crash, as the author acknowledges, it's beyond selfish to show up on their doorstep unannounced and uninvited. Bringing flowers hardly changes that.
The book also falls into the trap of legitimising ME/CFS by throwing mentally ill people under the bus. It repeatedly says ME/CFS is a "real" disease and that more money is needed for research, and more help needed for patients, because it's not caused by mental problems and people with ME/CFS aren't "crazy" and it isn't "just depression" (as if depression isn't a serious illness as well). ME/CFS is indeed a real disease, because it exists, but if it were a mental illness it would still be a real disease, and more money would still be needed, and patients would still deserve help. As someone with both ME/CFS and mental illness, this way of thinking is not something I appreciate.
The reason I'm not giving this 5 stars is because I was uncomfortable with some of the things the author did. For example, when she stares through the keyhole of Whitney Dafoe's bedroom door without him knowing, and studies his body, and describes it for the reader? That's creepy and not okay. She also wants to interview a couple with ME/CFS. After contacting them and not getting an invite, she drives to their house anyway. This would be rude in any situation, but when you know these people are ill and have to be very careful with their energy, and that your visit will likely cause them to crash, as the author acknowledges, it's beyond selfish to show up on their doorstep unannounced and uninvited. Bringing flowers hardly changes that.
The book also falls into the trap of legitimising ME/CFS by throwing mentally ill people under the bus. It repeatedly says ME/CFS is a "real" disease and that more money is needed for research, and more help needed for patients, because it's not caused by mental problems and people with ME/CFS aren't "crazy" and it isn't "just depression" (as if depression isn't a serious illness as well). ME/CFS is indeed a real disease, because it exists, but if it were a mental illness it would still be a real disease, and more money would still be needed, and patients would still deserve help. As someone with both ME/CFS and mental illness, this way of thinking is not something I appreciate.
wenniebiss's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
It's a really reflective book that brings attention to the illness and it is definitely emotional.
lauraen's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
A dive into how one extremely misunderstood illness can profoundly affect an entire family. I found this book to be engaging and digestible, while still referring to accurate science from reliable sources. The voice of the author is honest and heartfelt, and I feel it is a well-paced book. I already have a list of people to loan it to!
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