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rrsharp 's review for:
The Lady's Handbook for Her Mysterious Illness: A Memoir
by Sarah Ramey
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
This book was painful in how quickly it flipped back and forth between helpful advise and good story telling, and just garbage. The biggest failure in this book is lack of editing - the author is just not a good writer and relies on tropes, metaphors, references to other authors/works, etc. to an exhausting extent. She also presents personal theories as "scientific findings and research", which is a dangerous lie. I agree with much of what she says about the healthcare industry and state of general health in our society, but she adds a lot of unnecessary theorizing, especially when it comes to her views on feminism. Not to mention her IMMENSE privilege, which is barely acknowledged and which makes most of, if not all, of her advice inaccessible to most people. (Sidenote: calling your memoir a "handbook" and then failing to give almost any advice beyond eat healthy is a strong choice.) Someone needs to tell Sarah that most people do not grow up like she did, that she cannot be both exceedingly ordinary and a remarkable case, no matter how much she wants to be, and that the fact that most women experience sexual trauma in their lives does not mean that trauma is a precursor of WOMIdom. Correlation does not equal causation and if she does not understand this most basic tenent of science, she has no business writing a "medical" book.
Overall, this book made me sad. Mostly because if 60% of it had been cut, I think it could have been a great and highly valuable read. As is, very few people will want to read it, and the way it's written will alienate most others.
Overall, this book made me sad. Mostly because if 60% of it had been cut, I think it could have been a great and highly valuable read. As is, very few people will want to read it, and the way it's written will alienate most others.