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  <id>52375</id>
  <title><![CDATA[Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors]]></title>
  <isbn><![CDATA[0312420137]]></isbn>
  <isbn13><![CDATA[9780312420130]]></isbn13>
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  <description><![CDATA[In l978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as &quot;one of the most liberating books of its time.&quot; A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of the patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is - just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment, and highly curable, if good treatment is found early enough. Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic. These two essays published together as Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors have been translated in many languages all over the world, and continue to have enormous impact and influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.AUTHORBIO: Susan Sontag has written four novels, The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover, and In America, which won the 2000 National Book Award for fiction; a collection of stories, I, etcetera; several plays, including Alice in Bed; and five books of essays, among them Against Interpretation, and On Photography, which won the National Book Critics' Circle Prize for criticism. Her books are translated into twenty-three languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work.]]></description>
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  <original_publication_year type="integer">1989</original_publication_year>
  <original_title>Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors</original_title>
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  <average_rating><![CDATA[3.95]]></average_rating>
  <ratings_count><![CDATA[412]]></ratings_count>
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  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52375.Illness_as_Metaphor_and_AIDS_and_Its_Metaphors]]></url>
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  <authors>
    <author>
    <id>7907</id>
        <name><![CDATA[Susan Sontag]]></name>
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    <average_rating>3.92</average_rating>
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      <review>
  <id>10063266</id>
    <user>
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    <name><![CDATA[Jessica]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[New York, NY]]></location>
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  <isbn>0312420137</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780312420130</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">36</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541m/52375.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541s/52375.jpg</small_image_url>
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  <average_rating>3.96</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>412</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In l978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as &quot;one of the most liberating books of its time.&quot; A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of the patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is - just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment, and highly curable, if good treatment is found early enough. Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic. These two essays published together as Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors have been translated in many languages all over the world, and continue to have enormous impact and influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.AUTHORBIO: Susan Sontag has written four novels, The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover, and In America, which won the 2000 National Book Award for fiction; a collection of stories, I, etcetera; several plays, including Alice in Bed; and five books of essays, among them Against Interpretation, and On Photography, which won the National Book Critics' Circle Prize for criticism. Her books are translated into twenty-three languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1989</published>
</book>

    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>14</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[anyone who has a filthy, horrible disease]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[ariel, et al]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Dec 06 17:34:43 -0800 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Feb 12 20:00:48 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[A part of me thinks you shouldn't be allowed to write a book that's just your random, personal opinion about something, even though a bigger part of me wishes that that were my job.<br/><br/>I can see how this book was probably really important when it came out, and I'll bet it's done a lot of gre...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/10063266">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/10063266]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/10063266]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>6274128</id>
    <user>
    <id>33034</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Brodie]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/33034-brodie]]></link>
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  <id type="integer">52375</id>
  <isbn>0312420137</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780312420130</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">36</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541m/52375.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541s/52375.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52375.Illness_as_Metaphor_and_AIDS_and_Its_Metaphors</link>
  <average_rating>3.95</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>437</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In l978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as &quot;one of the most liberating books of its time.&quot; A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of the patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is - just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment, and highly curable, if good treatment is found early enough. Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic. These two essays published together as Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors have been translated in many languages all over the world, and continue to have enormous impact and influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.AUTHORBIO: Susan Sontag has written four novels, The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover, and In America, which won the 2000 National Book Award for fiction; a collection of stories, I, etcetera; several plays, including Alice in Bed; and five books of essays, among them Against Interpretation, and On Photography, which won the National Book Critics' Circle Prize for criticism. Her books are translated into twenty-three languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1989</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>2</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
            <shelf name="theoryandphilosophy" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Sep 16 07:14:09 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Sep 16 07:27:12 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Personally I found the first essay, Illness as Metaphor, to be more thought provoking than the second one.  In part, while a dodgy argumentative strategy, I found the comparisons and contrasts between tuberculosis and cancer to be very interesting, particularly as I had not read that much about TB i...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6274128">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6274128]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6274128]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>24488285</id>
    <user>
    <id>1234691</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Cheryl Lali]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Portland, OR]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1234691-cheryl-lali]]></link>
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  <id type="integer">52375</id>
  <isbn>0312420137</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780312420130</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">36</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541m/52375.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541s/52375.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52375.Illness_as_Metaphor_and_AIDS_and_Its_Metaphors</link>
  <average_rating>3.95</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>437</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In l978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as &quot;one of the most liberating books of its time.&quot; A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of the patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is - just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment, and highly curable, if good treatment is found early enough. Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic. These two essays published together as Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors have been translated in many languages all over the world, and continue to have enormous impact and influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.AUTHORBIO: Susan Sontag has written four novels, The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover, and In America, which won the 2000 National Book Award for fiction; a collection of stories, I, etcetera; several plays, including Alice in Bed; and five books of essays, among them Against Interpretation, and On Photography, which won the National Book Critics' Circle Prize for criticism. Her books are translated into twenty-three languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1989</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
            <shelf name="nonfiction" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003</read_at>
  <date_added>Sat Jun 14 11:49:17 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Jul 10 22:05:41 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Sontag does the world a wonderful favor and reminds it that illness can be just a malfunction of the body. When faced with her own cancer struggle, she discovers via the reactions of others, that much spiritual or psychological weakness is projected onto her by others. The mind/body connection, she ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/24488285">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/24488285]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/24488285]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>33015167</id>
    <user>
    <id>767228</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Michelle]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Brooklyn, NY]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/767228-michelle]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1199998140p3/767228.jpg]]></image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">52375</id>
  <isbn>0312420137</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780312420130</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">36</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541m/52375.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541s/52375.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52375.Illness_as_Metaphor_and_AIDS_and_Its_Metaphors</link>
  <average_rating>3.95</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>437</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In l978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as &quot;one of the most liberating books of its time.&quot; A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of the patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is - just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment, and highly curable, if good treatment is found early enough. Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic. These two essays published together as Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors have been translated in many languages all over the world, and continue to have enormous impact and influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.AUTHORBIO: Susan Sontag has written four novels, The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover, and In America, which won the 2000 National Book Award for fiction; a collection of stories, I, etcetera; several plays, including Alice in Bed; and five books of essays, among them Against Interpretation, and On Photography, which won the National Book Critics' Circle Prize for criticism. Her books are translated into twenty-three languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1989</published>
</book>

    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
            <shelf name="critical-theory" />
        <shelf name="social-work" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Sep 16 11:57:38 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Sep 16 12:01:53 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I've always had a certain disdain for Sontag.  My understanding is she was quite closeted as a queer through most of her life, and was the subject of much criticism from the AIDS movements with which she also had many personal connections.  AIDS and Its Metaphors has a very poor understanding of how...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/33015167">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/33015167]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/33015167]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>44819866</id>
    <user>
    <id>83507</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Nina]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[New York, NY]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/83507-nina]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-111x148.jpg]]></image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">52375</id>
  <isbn>0312420137</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780312420130</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">36</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541m/52375.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541s/52375.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52375.Illness_as_Metaphor_and_AIDS_and_Its_Metaphors</link>
  <average_rating>3.95</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>437</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In l978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as &quot;one of the most liberating books of its time.&quot; A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of the patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is - just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment, and highly curable, if good treatment is found early enough. Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic. These two essays published together as Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors have been translated in many languages all over the world, and continue to have enormous impact and influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.AUTHORBIO: Susan Sontag has written four novels, The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover, and In America, which won the 2000 National Book Award for fiction; a collection of stories, I, etcetera; several plays, including Alice in Bed; and five books of essays, among them Against Interpretation, and On Photography, which won the National Book Critics' Circle Prize for criticism. Her books are translated into twenty-three languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1989</published>
</book>

    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Jan 29 20:30:17 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Feb 08 18:30:17 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[It was interesting to learn about the cultural history of tuberculosis and cancer and the meaning that society projected onto these two illnesses in her first essay.  Knowing that Sontag had cancer when she wrote the first essay, I found her intellectual treatment of the subject with such emotional ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/44819866">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/44819866]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/44819866]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>40022994</id>
    <user>
    <id>722135</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Dan]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Philadelphia, PA]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/722135-dan]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1238535885p3/722135.jpg]]></image_url>
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  </user>
    <book>
  <id type="integer">766266</id>
  <isbn>0385267053</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780385267052</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">1</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178162668m/766266.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178162668s/766266.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/766266.Illness_as_Metaphor_and_AIDS_and_Its_Metaphors</link>
  <average_rating>3.78</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>9</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Brimming with humane and original ideas about a  disease and the modern condition, this classic  essay and its sequel -- written 10 years later -- are  compassionate exhortations and a liberating event.  &quot;Taken together, the two essays are an exemplary  demonstration of the power of the intellect in the  face of the lethal metaphors of fear.&quot; --  <em>The Nation</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>1989</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
            <shelf name="2008" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Sat Dec 13 11:58:00 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sat Dec 13 12:03:43 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[both of these essays are good, but they both struck me as somewhat limited. the original <em>illness as metaphor</em> is more intimate and less dated, but her central thesis (moving away from turning physical calamities into social metaphors, essentially) remains too located in literature and the arts for my...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/40022994">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/40022994]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/40022994]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>73194546</id>
    <user>
    <id>759834</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Elizabeth]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/759834-elizabeth-archuleta]]></link>
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  <id type="integer">52375</id>
  <isbn>0312420137</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780312420130</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">36</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541m/52375.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541s/52375.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52375.Illness_as_Metaphor_and_AIDS_and_Its_Metaphors</link>
  <average_rating>3.95</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>437</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In l978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as &quot;one of the most liberating books of its time.&quot; A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of the patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is - just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment, and highly curable, if good treatment is found early enough. Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic. These two essays published together as Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors have been translated in many languages all over the world, and continue to have enormous impact and influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.AUTHORBIO: Susan Sontag has written four novels, The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover, and In America, which won the 2000 National Book Award for fiction; a collection of stories, I, etcetera; several plays, including Alice in Bed; and five books of essays, among them Against Interpretation, and On Photography, which won the National Book Critics' Circle Prize for criticism. Her books are translated into twenty-three languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1989</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Oct 02 07:33:45 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Oct 02 07:37:54 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I've read this book more than once, so it is getting a bit stale, but each time I've read it has been for a classroom situation, so I like that it is familiar. The essays are dated, but they do give an idea about how things were before cancer and AIDS had higher survival rates. I disagree with her c...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73194546">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73194546]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73194546]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>12047975</id>
    <user>
    <id>760831</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Donna]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Halifax, Canada]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/760831-donna]]></link>
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  <id type="integer">52375</id>
  <isbn>0312420137</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780312420130</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">36</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541m/52375.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541s/52375.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52375.Illness_as_Metaphor_and_AIDS_and_Its_Metaphors</link>
  <average_rating>3.95</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>437</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In l978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as &quot;one of the most liberating books of its time.&quot; A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of the patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is - just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment, and highly curable, if good treatment is found early enough. Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic. These two essays published together as Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors have been translated in many languages all over the world, and continue to have enormous impact and influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.AUTHORBIO: Susan Sontag has written four novels, The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover, and In America, which won the 2000 National Book Award for fiction; a collection of stories, I, etcetera; several plays, including Alice in Bed; and five books of essays, among them Against Interpretation, and On Photography, which won the National Book Critics' Circle Prize for criticism. Her books are translated into twenty-three languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1989</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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            <shelf name="essays" />
        <shelf name="medical-anthropology" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Jan 09 05:47:57 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sat Jan 19 01:44:57 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[We are discussing the power of metaphors in two separate classes at the same time — Advanced Theory and Medical Anthropology — and the counterpoint between the two is fascinating. Sontag’s book, while certainly dated, is an excellent examination of the military metaphors that surround the “b...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/12047975">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/12047975]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/12047975]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>10102955</id>
    <user>
    <id>214508</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Amy]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Oakland, CA]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/214508-amy]]></link>
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  <isbn>0312420137</isbn>
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  <text_reviews_count type="integer">36</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541m/52375.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541s/52375.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52375.Illness_as_Metaphor_and_AIDS_and_Its_Metaphors</link>
  <average_rating>3.95</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>437</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In l978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as &quot;one of the most liberating books of its time.&quot; A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of the patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is - just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment, and highly curable, if good treatment is found early enough. Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic. These two essays published together as Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors have been translated in many languages all over the world, and continue to have enormous impact and influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.AUTHORBIO: Susan Sontag has written four novels, The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover, and In America, which won the 2000 National Book Award for fiction; a collection of stories, I, etcetera; several plays, including Alice in Bed; and five books of essays, among them Against Interpretation, and On Photography, which won the National Book Critics' Circle Prize for criticism. Her books are translated into twenty-three languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1989</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
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            <shelf name="non-fiction" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Wed Dec 12 00:00:00 -0800 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Dec 07 13:42:07 -0800 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Dec 12 11:51:50 -0800 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I was curious about Susan Sontag because for a while, a bunch of the novels that I was reading featured forewords written by her. I had been advised that her fiction is terrible and she is much stronger at essays.<br/><br/>This first part of this book was written while Sontag was being treated for...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/10102955">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/10102955]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/10102955]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>7523107</id>
    <user>
    <id>103124</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Samantha]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Cambridge, MA]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/103124-samantha]]></link>
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  <id type="integer">52375</id>
  <isbn>0312420137</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780312420130</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">36</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541m/52375.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541s/52375.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52375.Illness_as_Metaphor_and_AIDS_and_Its_Metaphors</link>
  <average_rating>3.95</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>437</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In l978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as &quot;one of the most liberating books of its time.&quot; A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of the patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is - just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment, and highly curable, if good treatment is found early enough. Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic. These two essays published together as Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors have been translated in many languages all over the world, and continue to have enormous impact and influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.AUTHORBIO: Susan Sontag has written four novels, The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover, and In America, which won the 2000 National Book Award for fiction; a collection of stories, I, etcetera; several plays, including Alice in Bed; and five books of essays, among them Against Interpretation, and On Photography, which won the National Book Critics' Circle Prize for criticism. Her books are translated into twenty-three languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1989</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Oct 10 06:33:57 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Oct 10 06:50:31 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Sontag's juxtaposition of tuberculosis and AIDS demonstrates the power of metaphors used for disease and illness. Her compelling argument is grounded in public evidence and examples of how people interpret variations (and deviances) of health. Particularly interesting was her characterization of tub...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7523107">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7523107]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7523107]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>12768105</id>
    <user>
    <id>795064</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Sarah]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Cardiff, The United Kingdom]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/795064-sarah-bridges]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-111x148.jpg]]></image_url>
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  <id type="integer">52375</id>
  <isbn>0312420137</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780312420130</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">36</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541m/52375.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541s/52375.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52375.Illness_as_Metaphor_and_AIDS_and_Its_Metaphors</link>
  <average_rating>3.95</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>437</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In l978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as &quot;one of the most liberating books of its time.&quot; A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of the patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is - just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment, and highly curable, if good treatment is found early enough. Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic. These two essays published together as Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors have been translated in many languages all over the world, and continue to have enormous impact and influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.AUTHORBIO: Susan Sontag has written four novels, The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover, and In America, which won the 2000 National Book Award for fiction; a collection of stories, I, etcetera; several plays, including Alice in Bed; and five books of essays, among them Against Interpretation, and On Photography, which won the National Book Critics' Circle Prize for criticism. Her books are translated into twenty-three languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1989</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Jan 17 11:52:48 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Jan 17 11:57:29 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This is great. First read it at university when writing an essay about illness in North and South (which by the way is a rubbish book, don't bother with that one), it's really fascinating. Susan Sontag addresses the metaphors surrounding different illnesses, like how tuberculosis used to be associat...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/12768105">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/12768105]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/12768105]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>59194039</id>
    <user>
    <id>2404475</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Matthew]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Denver, CO]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2404475-matthew]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-M-111x148.jpg]]></image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">52375</id>
  <isbn>0312420137</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780312420130</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">36</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541m/52375.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541s/52375.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52375.Illness_as_Metaphor_and_AIDS_and_Its_Metaphors</link>
  <average_rating>3.95</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>437</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In l978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as &quot;one of the most liberating books of its time.&quot; A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of the patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is - just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment, and highly curable, if good treatment is found early enough. Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic. These two essays published together as Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors have been translated in many languages all over the world, and continue to have enormous impact and influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.AUTHORBIO: Susan Sontag has written four novels, The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover, and In America, which won the 2000 National Book Award for fiction; a collection of stories, I, etcetera; several plays, including Alice in Bed; and five books of essays, among them Against Interpretation, and On Photography, which won the National Book Critics' Circle Prize for criticism. Her books are translated into twenty-three languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1989</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Jun 10 15:16:10 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Jun 10 15:18:03 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Sontag has been an important cultural critic, and this book is no exception. Nonetheless, I find this book more important as a historical artifact--as one of the first widely published works that put AIDS into context--than for its philosophical depth. ]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/59194039]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/59194039]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>45787686</id>
    <user>
    <id>1809991</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Bruce]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[New York, NY]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1809991-bruce]]></link>
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  <isbn>0312420137</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780312420130</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">36</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541m/52375.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541s/52375.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52375.Illness_as_Metaphor_and_AIDS_and_Its_Metaphors</link>
  <average_rating>3.95</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>437</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In l978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as &quot;one of the most liberating books of its time.&quot; A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of the patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is - just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment, and highly curable, if good treatment is found early enough. Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic. These two essays published together as Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors have been translated in many languages all over the world, and continue to have enormous impact and influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.AUTHORBIO: Susan Sontag has written four novels, The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover, and In America, which won the 2000 National Book Award for fiction; a collection of stories, I, etcetera; several plays, including Alice in Bed; and five books of essays, among them Against Interpretation, and On Photography, which won the National Book Critics' Circle Prize for criticism. Her books are translated into twenty-three languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1989</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Wed Feb 11 20:47:06 -0800 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Feb 08 19:35:31 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Feb 11 20:47:06 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I love Susan Sontag!  I don't always agree with her, but there is never any doubt as to her point of view.  I love her political stances.  Her insights are so valuable &amp; so mind-opening.  Essential reading for anyone interested critical thinking.  She makes her point!]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/45787686]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/45787686]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>72007111</id>
    <user>
    <id>2339165</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Melissa]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2339165-melissa]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1259709995p3/2339165.jpg]]></image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">52375</id>
  <isbn>0312420137</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780312420130</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">36</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541m/52375.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541s/52375.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52375.Illness_as_Metaphor_and_AIDS_and_Its_Metaphors</link>
  <average_rating>3.95</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>437</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In l978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as &quot;one of the most liberating books of its time.&quot; A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of the patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is - just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment, and highly curable, if good treatment is found early enough. Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic. These two essays published together as Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors have been translated in many languages all over the world, and continue to have enormous impact and influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.AUTHORBIO: Susan Sontag has written four novels, The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover, and In America, which won the 2000 National Book Award for fiction; a collection of stories, I, etcetera; several plays, including Alice in Bed; and five books of essays, among them Against Interpretation, and On Photography, which won the National Book Critics' Circle Prize for criticism. Her books are translated into twenty-three languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1989</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Sep 21 11:37:40 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Sep 21 11:41:56 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Powerful look at the metaphors we use in relation to illnesses--and how that impacts our experience, treatment, and social acceptance of them. At times I got frustrated with her method of argumentation, but it fits the essay style. ]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72007111]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72007111]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>56841052</id>
    <user>
    <id>719622</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Alece]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Seattle, WA]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/719622-alece]]></link>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">52375</id>
  <isbn>0312420137</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780312420130</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">36</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541m/52375.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541s/52375.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52375.Illness_as_Metaphor_and_AIDS_and_Its_Metaphors</link>
  <average_rating>3.95</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>437</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In l978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as &quot;one of the most liberating books of its time.&quot; A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of the patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is - just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment, and highly curable, if good treatment is found early enough. Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic. These two essays published together as Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors have been translated in many languages all over the world, and continue to have enormous impact and influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.AUTHORBIO: Susan Sontag has written four novels, The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover, and In America, which won the 2000 National Book Award for fiction; a collection of stories, I, etcetera; several plays, including Alice in Bed; and five books of essays, among them Against Interpretation, and On Photography, which won the National Book Critics' Circle Prize for criticism. Her books are translated into twenty-three languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1989</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
            <shelf name="medical-ish" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Mon Aug 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu May 21 06:51:09 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Aug 24 18:36:25 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[It took me so long to read this book...god, so long. In fact, I was fairly sure the prime topics of the book- cancer and AIDS - would be cured by the time I finished it. Sadly this was not the case. This is a great book, but I wish I had read it under different circumstances. For instance, it would ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/56841052">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/56841052]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/56841052]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>41771095</id>
    <user>
    <id>237259</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Dan]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[New York, NY]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/237259-dan-hall]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1231015562p3/237259.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1231015562p2/237259.jpg]]></small_image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">52375</id>
  <isbn>0312420137</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780312420130</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">36</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541m/52375.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541s/52375.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52375.Illness_as_Metaphor_and_AIDS_and_Its_Metaphors</link>
  <average_rating>3.95</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>437</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In l978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as &quot;one of the most liberating books of its time.&quot; A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of the patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is - just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment, and highly curable, if good treatment is found early enough. Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic. These two essays published together as Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors have been translated in many languages all over the world, and continue to have enormous impact and influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.AUTHORBIO: Susan Sontag has written four novels, The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover, and In America, which won the 2000 National Book Award for fiction; a collection of stories, I, etcetera; several plays, including Alice in Bed; and five books of essays, among them Against Interpretation, and On Photography, which won the National Book Critics' Circle Prize for criticism. Her books are translated into twenty-three languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1989</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006</read_at>
  <date_added>Sat Jan 03 17:29:50 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sat Jan 03 17:31:42 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[They should really take &quot;Mountains Beyond Mountains&quot; off the reading list for medical school and add this. ]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/41771095]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/41771095]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>25049757</id>
    <user>
    <id>92563</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Cole]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Muncie, IN]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/92563-cole]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1179805714p3/92563.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1179805714p2/92563.jpg]]></small_image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">52375</id>
  <isbn>0312420137</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780312420130</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">36</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541m/52375.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541s/52375.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52375.Illness_as_Metaphor_and_AIDS_and_Its_Metaphors</link>
  <average_rating>3.95</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>437</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In l978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as &quot;one of the most liberating books of its time.&quot; A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of the patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is - just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment, and highly curable, if good treatment is found early enough. Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic. These two essays published together as Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors have been translated in many languages all over the world, and continue to have enormous impact and influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.AUTHORBIO: Susan Sontag has written four novels, The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover, and In America, which won the 2000 National Book Award for fiction; a collection of stories, I, etcetera; several plays, including Alice in Bed; and five books of essays, among them Against Interpretation, and On Photography, which won the National Book Critics' Circle Prize for criticism. Her books are translated into twenty-three languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1989</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Mon Jun 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Sat Jun 21 07:15:34 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Jun 12 22:27:56 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Sontag calls attention to the problematic relationship between linguistic choices, illness and healing.  Her work is situated in a moment of cultural panic and the author warns against language that serves to further marginalized those inflicted with disease.  While the author makes several bold ges...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/25049757">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/25049757]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/25049757]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>3378917</id>
    <user>
    <id>15631</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Mickey]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Philadelphia, PA]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/15631-mickey]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1172890762p3/15631.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1172890762p2/15631.jpg]]></small_image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">52375</id>
  <isbn>0312420137</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780312420130</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">36</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541m/52375.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541s/52375.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52375.Illness_as_Metaphor_and_AIDS_and_Its_Metaphors</link>
  <average_rating>3.95</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>437</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In l978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as &quot;one of the most liberating books of its time.&quot; A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of the patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is - just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment, and highly curable, if good treatment is found early enough. Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic. These two essays published together as Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors have been translated in many languages all over the world, and continue to have enormous impact and influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.AUTHORBIO: Susan Sontag has written four novels, The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover, and In America, which won the 2000 National Book Award for fiction; a collection of stories, I, etcetera; several plays, including Alice in Bed; and five books of essays, among them Against Interpretation, and On Photography, which won the National Book Critics' Circle Prize for criticism. Her books are translated into twenty-three languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1989</published>
</book>

    <rating>1</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
            <shelf name="sociologyurbanstudies" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Jul 22 10:11:23 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Dec 17 01:32:38 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I've now read enough Susan Sontag to be able to say that no, I don't like her writings.  I thought I would like her better than i do because her method of exploring an idea is very similar to mine (a historical-sociological approach, with emphasis on folkloric and linguistic perspectives), but her s...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3378917">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3378917]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3378917]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>3367357</id>
    <user>
    <id>6078</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Lauren]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[New York, NY]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6078-lauren]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1197260498p3/6078.jpg]]></image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">371006</id>
  <isbn>0141187123</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780141187129</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">2</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Illness as Metaphor/AIDS and Its Metaphors]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174229149m/371006.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174229149s/371006.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/371006.Illness_as_Metaphor_AIDS_and_Its_Metaphors</link>
  <average_rating>3.56</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>9</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In l978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as &quot;one of the most liberating books of its time.&quot; A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of the patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is - just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment, and highly curable, if good treatment is found early enough. Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic. These two essays published together as Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors have been translated in many languages all over the world, and continue to have enormous impact and influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.AUTHORBIO: Susan Sontag has written four novels, The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover, and In America, which won the 2000 National Book Award for fiction; a collection of stories, I, etcetera; several plays, including Alice in Bed; and five books of essays, among them Against Interpretation, and On Photography, which won the National Book Critics' Circle Prize for criticism. Her books are translated into twenty-three languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1989</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Sat Jul 21 21:56:08 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Dec 17 01:30:27 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[At this point, Sontag's analysis is part of our cultural awareness of the manner in which illness is discussed and considered in the Western world. I was surprised that such a slim book could seem so repetitive, but I'm sure that the points needed to be driven home when these books were first writte...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3367357">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3367357]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3367357]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>11345978</id>
    <user>
    <id>76685</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Eleanor]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Brooklyn, NY]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/76685-eleanor]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1188053734p3/76685.jpg]]></image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">52375</id>
  <isbn>0312420137</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780312420130</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">36</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541m/52375.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170387541s/52375.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52375.Illness_as_Metaphor_and_AIDS_and_Its_Metaphors</link>
  <average_rating>3.95</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>437</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[In l978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as &quot;one of the most liberating books of its time.&quot; A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of the patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is - just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment, and highly curable, if good treatment is found early enough. Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic. These two essays published together as Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors have been translated in many languages all over the world, and continue to have enormous impact and influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.AUTHORBIO: Susan Sontag has written four novels, The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover, and In America, which won the 2000 National Book Award for fiction; a collection of stories, I, etcetera; several plays, including Alice in Bed; and five books of essays, among them Against Interpretation, and On Photography, which won the National Book Critics' Circle Prize for criticism. Her books are translated into twenty-three languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1989</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[history dorks, activitsts, social scientists, anyone]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Dec 31 12:07:56 -0800 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Jan 16 07:04:45 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I picked up some other random essays by Sontag and was less than impressed, but this is awesome!  Though I usually don't like medical type stuff, this is really good.  It's quite eerie to read considering the times both essays were written and how the discourse on illness, especially around cancer a...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/11345978">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/11345978]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/11345978]]></link>
</review>
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  <id>8</id>
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