Better Than Well: American Medicine Meets the American Dream

When I first picked up this book, I was incredibly interested to find out how American medicine met `the american dream'. Upon opening the book, I was surprised at not only the structure of the novel but the incredible amount of scientific references provided by the author. With the insurmountable amount of references, I began to feel intimidated with the thought that comprehending such a scientific novel would be unobtainable. The moment I began to read the novel however, I was incredibly surprised at Elliot's writing style. I was able to easily understand the concept of each section while also being incredibly informed on an advanced scientific level about drugs, illnesses and our society as a whole.The book, Better Than Well: American Medicine Meets the American Dream is written not as a whole novel, but in different sections. The sections range from topics about the appeal of drugs such as LSD to neurological disorders such as Apotemnophilia. I believe that these divisions of sections made the read much easier and allowed me as the reader absorb a new level of knowledge on a more graspable level.I am a student taking a Neuroscience course and our assignment was to find a book about a specific neurological disorder we were interested in. The neurological disorder I chose was Apotemnophilia. When I first researched the illness, I realized that the patients with Apotemnophilia were proclaimed self-desired amputees. Other than the illness being related to self-proclaimed amputation, I wasn't aware of the sociological relationship the illness had with the American society. The illness seemed like any other neurological disorder with damage to a specific lobe of the brain. It wasn't until I picked up this book by Carl Elliott where I realized Apotemnophilia was much more than a neurological disorder pertaining to self-amputation. Carl Elliott begins the section by introducing the illness as something not labeled completely as a neurological disorder nor a psychological disorder. Following the introduction the author begins to tell greusome stories of Apotemnophiliacs and how severe the `self-desired' amputation really was by describing ways the patients "severed their arms". With a cringed face and my imagination running wild, I proceeded to read the rest of the section to be completely turned around. Carl Elliott has proved to me that he has done an insurmountable amount of research pertaining to Apotemnophilia by talking to not only medical experts, psychologists but also patients. Carl Elliott's interview with patients seemed to make the biggest impact on my view of Apotemnophilia. The people that were interviewed would talk about how they were unable to picture themselves with these certain limbs. They felt that the limb they possessed weren't naturally theirs and amputation was necessary. The author consistently involves the opinions of every angle of the discussion which made me feel as though none of the statements were written in an unbiased manner. The amputees were not classified as anything more than `wannabes' - a term Elliott used to describe the apotemnophiliacs and not as a degrading fashion, and the psychiatrists and doctors were represented professionally. Elliott makes a strong effort to make sure that the reader understands every point of view on a professional level. It was then when I realized that this simple "neurological disorder" was much more than damage to a particular lobe on the brain.The first thing I noticed in this book that really caught my attention was the author's choice of words. When I was searching for scientific novels about a neurological disorder, my greatest fear was that I would be stuck with a novel with unbelievable vocabulary beyond my comprehension and that I would have the most difficult time understanding the simplest concepts. My presumption was definitely proven wrong when I picked up Better Than Well. Carl Elliott presents his ideas with not only simplistic statements, but his statements are filled with scientific background and knowledge. I felt that with the knowledge I had going into the book was definitely not tested when reading the novel. I was incredibly pleased with the way Elliott wrote the book and presented it to his readers. The second thing I noticed in this book that caught my attention was the dialog he included in the text. Again with my assumptions, I assumed that a scientific novel about something as serious as neurological disorders, drugs and American society toward medicine would have no form of dialog whatsoever. However, I was definitely proven wrong when I picked up this book. Elliott seemed to really have done his research and it showed in this novel. He actively interviewed patients, physicians and psychiatrists and included their dialog and personal statements in the text. An example that really came to mind when thinking about dialog in this novel was when Elliott wrote about a woman with apotemnophilia. The woman was asked to describe the "life-changing" experience she had with an amputee as a child. The similarity Elliott found within all the apotemnophiliac patients is that they have had this ideal image of the perfect body encased in their minds as early as the age of 6. The patients have no recollection of the last time they did not want an amputation. The woman that Elliott decided to include in his novel made an impact on my personal feelings when I realized that people like this really do exist and apotemnophilia is more than a neurological disorder. The woman expressed that when she was three years old she met a man who was completely missing all four of his fingers on his hand. Ever since the woman met this man, she has had the strange fascination for amputees. This experience caused her to realize that she was interested in women amputees who were "missing parts of their arms and wore hook prostheses". Although this seemed like an unusual statement, Elliott makes it incredibly clear that statements like this is very normal for people diagnosed with apotemnophilia. The last element that caught my attention was Elliott's ability to bring in different ends of each discussion into play. Again, like the apotemnophilia topic, Elliott brought in the discussion of whether or not surgically removing perfect limbs is an unethical decision made by physicians. Before reading this book, the medical side of the apotemnophilia topic never occurred to me. Being new to the topic, I always believed that the patients had every right to want to amputate whichever limb they wanted to amputate. However, Elliott brought in a new perspective - an ethical perspective into play. Is it ethically correct to amputate a healthy limb? Is it considered as surgical treatment for the disease to make emotionally unhappy patients finally satisfied with their body? Is it considered as plastic surgery? These are all the points that Elliott played in with the text.Overall, I was incredibly impressed with this novel. I never would have expected a novel based on American society in relation to medicine to be an easy read with interesting topics. I was able to dive straight into the book and finish the last page with complete satisfaction. I have no regrets purchasing this book and would recommend this book without a doubt to anyone who is interested in such a topic.

If you've only read a little bit of philosophy, this is great place to begin. It's written very casually and gently wanders from topic to topic, but lacks structure and rigor. It drops many keen perceptions about contemporary life and selfhood, but the better ones are all from works cited (and uncited-- the 20th century philosopher Martin Heidegger is clearly an influence, but never mentioned by name.)

I enjoyed this book. The author discusses many salient points in our fast paced, happiness at any price, world. Am I crazy? Are YOU? I found he tended to go on and on about various subjects until, where the subject was once fascinating, it became boring. That’s why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 stars.

One of the most insightful and honest books about the American ‘condition’ that I’ve ever had the fortune to read. Well rounded and honest. Not for precious or tender minds - most Americans these days.

I got this book based on his April 2006 Atlantic Monthly article. Turns out that he spends nearly the first two chapters with a focus on patients who have undergone sex change operations. Lots of useful information and insights...but he does overanalyze "identity." I realized that he doesn't quite "get it" when he asserted that we teach our children to fake gratitude and appreciation to others.

Though Carl is formally a philosopher and a doctor, this book demonstrates his incredible ability to deftly play the role of a sociologist, anthropologist, and journalist as well. As the book meanders its way through topics as diverse as attention deficit disorder and foot binding in Japan, Dr. Elliot makes astute insights on the concept of satisfaction and happiness in the age of enhancement technologies. As Peter Kramer notes in his introduction, he accomplishes his goal without a tone of condescension, but with one of compassion, rare amongst writers on this topic. Dr. Elliot does not concern himself with normative theories, but instead opens up the door for more conversation on a fascinating subject. The conclusions he makes can be depressing, but they are never sensationalist. Highly recommended.

Elliott's book is a good read for those who have ever worried about America's growing obsession with medicine and technology. Even if you haven't ever wondered or thought about this part of American life, read the book anyway, because you should probably start. Elliott brings in a little of everything: the past, present and future, and scientific data as well as personal opinion, in order to ask the question, 'So where are we going with all this?' I think that this book can start a lot of us out on the right foot in trying to answer that question...

He demonstrates incredible insight when discussing moral and scientific dilemmas in modern American context, a must-read!