Shapeshifters

A Doctor’s Notes on Medicine & Human Change

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Pub Date May 03 2018 | Archive Date Apr 19 2018

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Description

Unreliable bodies and shifting symptoms are all in a day's work for a GP. In his years of practising, Gavin Francis has seen it all: the promising law student trapped under the spell of anorexia; the bodybuilder whose use of illegal steroids threatens his fertility; the teenager agonising over the perplexing physical dramas of puberty; and the surprisingly upbeat woman growing a horn in the centre of her forehead. In Shapeshifters he draws on his patients' bodily transformations, both welcome and unwelcome, bringing together case histories and accounts from the history of medicine, art, literature, myth and magic to show how the very essence of being human is change.

Unreliable bodies and shifting symptoms are all in a day's work for a GP. In his years of practising, Gavin Francis has seen it all: the promising law student trapped under the spell of anorexia;...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781781257739
PRICE £16.99 (GBP)
PAGES 320

Average rating from 3 members


Featured Reviews

-Netgalley Review-

I walked in reading this book with very few expectations; I have never read anything by author before, but I was interested in medical writings, and tales of the human body intrigues me as a layman with no medical expertise. This book offers a sharp and comprehensive look into the nature of humanity, how it works, and what the future have in store for us as individuals and as a collective.

The book describes humans as, to paraphrase lightly, creatures in constant change and flux. With philosophical discussion our transformations from birth to adolescence to our eventual death, the book offers a well-written medical perspective juxtaposed with philosophical and cultural context from history. An interesting read that enriched my cultural landscape and my understanding of the human body, which admittedly never extentded beyond high-school biomechanics and biology classes. The writing was not confusing nor is it filled with jargon, yet it conveys the medical expertise of the author and his intended message just fine.

An amazing read that I finished in three days due to the amazing writing and the intrinsic value offered by the book as it concluded on a philosophical note that brought his anecdotal case studies and knowledge full circle.

Would recommend to readers interested in Medical sciences and and/or philosophy in relation humans. This is an enriching read that offer sharp insights regardless of your level of medical knowledge and is bound to fascinate.

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An interesting book about the human body and transformations that it goes through.

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