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Better Than Well

American Medicine Meets the American Dream

Carl Elliott author Peter D Kramer editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:WW Norton & Co

Published:13th Jul '04

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Better Than Well cover

Americans have always been the world's most anxiously enthusiastic consumers of "enhancement technologies." Prozac, Viagra, and Botox injections are only the latest manifestations of a familiar pattern: enthusiastic adoption, public hand-wringing, an occasional congressional hearing, and calls for self-reliance.

In a brilliant diagnosis of our reactions to self-improvement technologies, Carl Elliott asks questions that illuminate deep currents in the American character: Why do we feel uneasy about these drugs, procedures, and therapies even while we embrace them? Where do we draw the line between self and society? Why do we seek self-realization in ways so heavily influenced by cultural conformity?

"A superbly crafted book." "An absorbing read that probes our foibles and uncertainties with gentleness, wisdom, and humor." "Elliott grips the reader's attention all the way." "An impressive achievement."

ISBN: 9780393325652

Dimensions: 211mm x 142mm x 25mm

Weight: 489g

384 pages