Scan barcode
A review by joyride
The Woman Who Fooled The World: Belle Gibson’s Cancer Con, and the Darkness at the Heart of the Wellness Industry by Beau Donelly
2.0
The good The authors were obviously very thorough with their research. Lots of information that they clearly
spent much time and effort doggedly pursuing. I enjoyed the timeline they sketched of young Gibson, her rising social media fame, stardom, and downfall. The first chapter was a good one, and was a great opening to a book filled with wild nonsense. The narrator of this book, James Saunders, was amazing! He read well, and during some parts *performed*! My reading experience was enhanced thanks to his talent.
The bad It becomes pretty clear that these two are used to writing short-form pieces. This book was clunky and disorganized at many points throughout. The structure of it was strange, switching between chronological narrative and chapter-long asides about wider social issues. They did not mesh together well and felt almost random. Some excerpts and facts were repeated throughout the book as if the authors were afraid the readers had forgotten what they had read mere chapters before- and these facts were almost always copy-pasted. Some quotes they included went on for too damn long and broke up the narrative they were telling.
The ugly I could not care less about what these two think of social justice issues. It's clear they do not have clearly formed nor particularly important things to say about anything other than her con and cancer/wellness fakers. Their chapter trying to figure out a diagnosis for her- they settle on Munchhausen Syndrome- is laughably silly, shallow, ableist and ignorant. Thanks for further demonizing and stigmatizing people who are just living! their! lives! And then they start opening the DSM and just, I had to laugh. Sit down and shut the fuck up. Also a strange absence of race analysis. This woman got this much mileage because she was white, thin and conventionally pretty. Come on guys, you can do it! Engage in critical thought please!
spent much time and effort doggedly pursuing. I enjoyed the timeline they sketched of young Gibson, her rising social media fame, stardom, and downfall. The first chapter was a good one, and was a great opening to a book filled with wild nonsense. The narrator of this book, James Saunders, was amazing! He read well, and during some parts *performed*! My reading experience was enhanced thanks to his talent.
The bad It becomes pretty clear that these two are used to writing short-form pieces. This book was clunky and disorganized at many points throughout. The structure of it was strange, switching between chronological narrative and chapter-long asides about wider social issues. They did not mesh together well and felt almost random. Some excerpts and facts were repeated throughout the book as if the authors were afraid the readers had forgotten what they had read mere chapters before- and these facts were almost always copy-pasted. Some quotes they included went on for too damn long and broke up the narrative they were telling.
The ugly I could not care less about what these two think of social justice issues. It's clear they do not have clearly formed nor particularly important things to say about anything other than her con and cancer/wellness fakers. Their chapter trying to figure out a diagnosis for her- they settle on Munchhausen Syndrome- is laughably silly, shallow, ableist and ignorant. Thanks for further demonizing and stigmatizing people who are just living! their! lives! And then they start opening the DSM and just, I had to laugh. Sit down and shut the fuck up. Also a strange absence of race analysis. This woman got this much mileage because she was white, thin and conventionally pretty. Come on guys, you can do it! Engage in critical thought please!