The Pain Chronicles: Cures, Myths, Mysteries, Prayers, Diaries, Brain Scans, Healing, and the Science of Suffering by Melanie Thernstrom

Mar 22, 2011 Jeanette rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, did-not-work-for-me, health-nutrition

I just don't have it in me to write a proper review of this book. I can't do it objectively, and I'm not in the mood to rant. Not much of a ranter even in the worst of circumstances.

If, like me, you're a chronic pain sufferer whose life has been defined and limited by your condition, you're not likely to find the book comforting or helpful. It's more likely to frustrate or anger you. If you are fortunate enough to be pain-free and want to study pain as a purely intellectual exercise, The Pain C...more

like 7 likes · see review

view all 6 comments

Deena I really liked your review because it summed up exactly how I was feeling about this book! I have suffered from chronic pain for the past 15 years now...more
Aug 14, 2011 12:08pm

Jeanette Hugs to you, Deena, and thank you for your kind words. It has been 13 years for me, so while I can't say I feel YOUR pain, I do know what it's like to...more
Aug 14, 2011 02:49pm

Oct 11, 2010 Bookmarks Magazine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nov-dec-2010

The Pain Chronicles is a tale of two books: one a broad-brush study of pain throughout the ages in literature, religion, history, art, and philosophy; the other, remarkable insight into the ravages of pain on the individual and the earnest (if hit-and-miss) efforts of modern science to handle chronic pain. An accomplished science writer, Thernstrom neatly balances her own story within the larger context, dividing the book into sections on pain as metaphor, history, disease, narrative, and percep...more

like · see review

Apr 13, 2012 Deena added it

Shelves: never-finished

I began reading this book looking for hope. I was hoping to hear personal stories so I could know I'm not alone in this fight. I wanted to learn about the cutting-edge research being done at leading pain clinics across the country. I wanted to learn alternate coping methods. I also wanted to find ideas/methods to help my family understand what I go through & learn ways to help them cope with it as well.
I started & stopped reading many times. I forced myself to keep reading until I found...more I began reading this book looking for hope. I was hoping to hear personal stories so I could know I'm not alone in this fight. I wanted to learn about the cutting-edge research being done at leading pain clinics across the country. I wanted to learn alternate coping methods. I also wanted to find ideas/methods to help my family understand what I go through & learn ways to help them cope with it as well.
I started & stopped reading many times. I forced myself to keep reading until I found some sort of comfort. The comfort & hope didn't come & I eventually stopped reading altogether. In my opinion, I never thought she captured anything even close to what I suffer through each & every day. Maybe one day I will pick this book back up, finish it & see things differently.

I agree with Jeanette's review below from March 2011:
"I just don't have it in me to write a proper review of this book. I can't do it objectively, and I'm not in the mood to rant. Not much of a ranter even in the worst of circumstances.
If, like me, you're a chronic pain sufferer whose life has been defined and limited by your condition, you're not likely to find the book comforting or helpful. It's more likely to frustrate or anger you. If you are fortunate enough to be pain-free and want to study pain as a purely intellectual exercise, The Pain Chronicles may interest you.
The author herself claims to be among those with real chronic pain, but it's clear from the way she writes so coldly and clinically about the subject that she only THINKS she knows what it's like. We who live with it as a permanent, unrelenting condition could never write a book like this. It would come across as a self-pitying, sympathy-grubbing whine festival.
So, in the interest of fairness, because she was willing to write about pain studies, I can give Thernstrom two stars instead of one. Maybe the book will have some value in building a general understanding of pain and the various attempts to alleviate it. Just don't go into it looking for anything that will ease your own experience of pain.
If you live with pain as a constant, unremitting companion, you don't want science. You want to know how can I make it go away, or at least let up, for an hour, or even a few minutes? For that, I recommend books and CDs teaching breathing techniques. Andrew Weil and Jon Kabat-Zinn are especially good.

(less)

like · see review

Jul 06, 2011 Jenny Brown rated it 2 of 5 stars

When I first started reading this book, it seemed promising, and I had a look at some of the negative reviews posted here and thought that the reviewers were being overly harsh, but about halfway through the book I saw their point.

The author doesn't understand science enough to explain any of the underlying medical concepts in a way that would be helpful to the reader, so she darts around dabbling in this and that, and pulling the whole mess of a book together with a personal memoir so bratty th...more

like 1 like · see review

Dec 07, 2010 Ciara rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010

this book was a chronic pain...in my ass. i really expected something more out of this book! it had positive reviews in the "new york times" & the "new yorker," & i was really hoping to connect with it, as i have suffered from chronic pain for over thirteen years. but it was such a disappointment.

the book is broken up into five big parts, each of which purports to examine the issue of pain from a slightly different perspective. the first part looks as the religious tradition of pain, &...more this book was a chronic pain...in my ass. i really expected something more out of this book! it had positive reviews in the "new york times" & the "new yorker," & i was really hoping to connect with it, as i have suffered from chronic pain for over thirteen years. but it was such a disappointment.

the book is broken up into five big parts, each of which purports to examine the issue of pain from a slightly different perspective. the first part looks as the religious tradition of pain, & this is where the book & i got off on the wrong foot. there are few things i find more tedious than religion. there was all this shit about how some religions look upon pain as a curse or a justified punishment for sin. that's really great & everything, but i am not religious & do not look at pain that way, so it was really boring. the only thing about this section that was remotely interesting was the stuff about "trial by ordeal," but...

the major problem with this book is that each of the five sections is broken down into numerous sub-sections, anywhere from a page to maybe five pages in length. each tiny sub-section is a cursory examination of a small, limited aspect of examining the nature of pain--as a case study, in terms of medical breakthroughs, through the prism of the author's personal story, etc. as such, there was no space for any idea to really blossom & develop. it's like the book tried to be all things to all people who have ever experienced chronic pain, & the result was a frustrating hodgepodge of nothingness.

far & away the worst parts of the book were the bits about the author's own personal experiences of chronic pain. i know from personal experience how difficult it is to write about pain without coming across as whiny, selfish, & narcissistic. the writer did not succeed in any way in avoiding these pitfalls. often when writing about pain case studies (the author spent several years traveling to pain clinics & meeting with patients & their doctors), the author compares herself against other pain patients...generally in an effort to find the other pain patients lacking in some way. either they are not complying with potentially helpful treatments, or they expect unrealistic miracles from their doctors, or they complain too much about their pain, or their life activities indicate that their pain is not as bad as the author's. all of this was just awful to read & it made me HATE the author (her goofy, hideous author photo on the flap jacket also did her no favors--she looked like she was trying to look like a teenager). at one point, she writes about seeing an orthopedist & receiving a diagnosis of a degenerative shoulder condition. "will it get better?" she asks. he points out that it's DEGENERATIVE. which means, no, it won't get better. she seems dumbfounded by this information.

seriously? SERIOUSLY?! how is it that a college-educated writer who knows enough to seek out an orthopedic specialist apparently does not understand the meaning of the word "degenerative"? she also spends a lot of time feeling sorry for herself because she was diagnosed with arthritis at the tender age of 33. she waxes lyrical (in her own imagination) about how very young this is, & wonders how she can live out another fifty years of life with an arthritic shoulder. as someone who was diagnosed with arthritis in her spine, neck, hips, shoulders, knees, ankles, wrists, & hands at the age of 22, my sympathies were limited. suck it the fuck up & shut up.

i don't know who the audience for this book actually is, but i don't think it's for chronic pain sufferers. i learned pretty much nothing from this book, & not until page 290 does the author offer the tidbit that consciously thinking about pain (by, say, reading a book about chronic pain) can make pain worse. well, thanks. i'd kind of already caught on by then. there was nothing in this book that helped me find a better way of coping with my pain, or made me relate in some uplifting way to other chronic pain sufferers (particularly the author). the prose was stilted & excessively pretentious. it seems like an armchair book for people without chronic pain who think they are smart. i think each chronic pain sufferer needs to make their own decision about whether or not to subject themselves to this book. i acknowledge that there is some possibility that a chronic pain sufferer for whom maybe the condition is still new, or who feels more sad than i do about their pain, might glean some tidbits from this book. but don't say i didn't warn you. you're in for a rambling, incomprehensible, piteous, pretentious whinefest of epic proportions. proceed with caution.(less)

like 6 likes · see review

Oct 11, 2011 Michelle Wegner rated it 4 of 5 stars

While this started out to be a promising book about chronic pain, it ended a little disappointing for me. I appreciated Thernstrom's research about how chronic pain has been dealt with in the past, present, and hopefully the future. There were lots of interesting stories throughout the book. I was somewhat frustrated with the end of the book, where she focuses on "Mind over matter" so much. I honestly don't have the time in my life to sit and focus away my pain. If I spent that much time focusin...more

like · see review

Feb 26, 2012 Patricia Joynton rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: special people

Recommended to Patricia by: just browing in bookstore, no recommendation

With so little known about pain, I'm amazed at the number of pages she was able to write. Interesting, the different types of pain (psychogenic, musculoskeletal, neuropathic, inflammatory, acute, chronic...), how the the nerves that transmit the pain, when severed, do not stop the pain. It even makes it worse. And where in the brain does pain occur? Who knows. But we do know pain exists. Historically, we have used pain and defined pain in strange ways: lower classes don't have so much, babies do...more

like · see review

Feb 06, 2011 Katharine Holden rated it 3 of 5 stars

An interesting overview of how pain has been viewed and treated over the centuries, including first-hand accounts of people dealing with chronic pain after injuries, surgeries, or source unknown. The book's chapters are arranged around the author's own experience of chronic pain and the search for a viable diagnosis and treatment plan. The first part of the book features a bit too much of the author's series of extremely insensitive boyfriends - I started skipping at that point - but that doesn'...more

like · see review

Oct 01, 2010 Christine rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a fabulous book but would probably only interest those who suffer some sort of intense chronic pain. It has a lot of great information on how the pain of whatever medical condition you may have actually affects you, shares research on pain, goes through the history of pain, and she sites examples of cases.

She also shares her personal history which can be somewhat overdone at times. But the reality is most people who have severe chronic pain feel alone or often despair at least at some p...more

like 1 like · see review

Aug 07, 2010 Megan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: free-shelf-at-work

it was so refreshing to get more information and perspective on pain. all the medical info on pain was fascinating (i didn't realize how pain begets pain, making the whole body more sensitive; how pain destroys your ability to modulate pain on a cellular level, and also causes brain atrophy; or how pain can be JUST PAIN, not a sign of injury or tissue damage).

i also really enjoyed the section on "pain as narrative." the idea of the difference between telic-centralizing (or integrative) and teli...more

like 4 likes · see review

Sep 15, 2010 Wanda rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: chronic pain patients and their families

Recommended to Wanda by: Times book review

This book has been reviewed very favorably by all of the major reviewer sources, NYT, WSJ and so on. I suspect the reason that it was reviewed at all is that the author is one of their own – a journalist and writer. It also gets glowing reviews on Amazon.
Frankly, I don’t get it. This simply is not a 5 star book. While Melanie Thernstrom does do the public a favor in bringing to their attention the troublesome issue of pain, what we know and don’t know about it, and its mismanagement, it simply i...more This book has been reviewed very favorably by all of the major reviewer sources, NYT, WSJ and so on. I suspect the reason that it was reviewed at all is that the author is one of their own – a journalist and writer. It also gets glowing reviews on Amazon.
Frankly, I don’t get it. This simply is not a 5 star book. While Melanie Thernstrom does do the public a favor in bringing to their attention the troublesome issue of pain, what we know and don’t know about it, and its mismanagement, it simply is not a 5 star book. It is OK.
Pain, especially pain of the kind that cannot be seen by others (chronic pain is usually invisible to everyone but the sufferer) has for too many years resulted in stigma and the disdain of the public and sadly the medical profession. It is much like depression was years ago (and still is to some) thought to be a matter of pulling oneself up by bootstraps and get off the pity potty. The condition/phenomenon “pain” is under-researched and misunderstood, and the victim is blamed for their disability.
To make matters worse, unscrupulous “pain specialists” periodically pop up and turn their practice into legal drug pushing, thereby tainting legitimate pain specialists. Added to this is the U.S. attitudes toward opiates and the Christian glorification of suffering, and the poor patient suffering from chronic pain stands no chance.
The best parts of this book were Thernstrom’s discussion of the nature of pain, in which she explains some very difficult biological and physiological concepts and the research being done in this arena; and the complex emotions that are tied up with being a patient with chronic pain. In those two areas, this book is a tour de force for consumers.
There are a few down sides. I disliked the choppy little vignette like chapters – if that is what they could be called. Rather than develop a few concepts well, she gives us cliff notes of many ideas. Also, there is a tone throughout that I really cannot put my finger on but that I found off-putting. I thought that there was more than a bit of overkill in her explorations of all of these pain patients and a voyeuristic quality to her observations. I also felt as though she was seeking, not enlightenment, but validation of her own status and feelings/behaviors as a pain patient. That is fine, but exploring those kinds of issues is the role of therapy, and I am not sure I want to hear about someone else’s psychotherapy. Woody Allen??? It got boring with him, and it got boring here.
All in all, I think that she would have done a better service to people who are looking for answers about their chronic pain had she taken a less “literary” approach to this book. People who are looking for answers would find the digressions into history and culture to be a digression – and frankly “illness as metaphor” has already been done. Glad I got it when it came into my local library and did not spend my money.
(less)

like 2 likes · see review

Nov 13, 2010 David rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A very important topic presented in a very interesting format. (I "read" this book as an audiobook.) The author presents a history of the treatment of pain in parallel with the history of her own encounter with chronic pain and what she learns along the way in her journey seeking any and almost all modalities for dealing with it. Though this book may be hard for someone without chronic pain to truly grasp, for the many sufferers of chronic pain, it provides a wealth of information from the stand...more

like · see review

Feb 11, 2013 Dan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Excellent insights for anyone with chronic pain and a taste for the philosophical and historical. Essentially a history of the views and attitudes about pain and how it has been treated from the beginning of civilization until today. The author also weaves into this history her personal 10+ year struggle with debilitating pain in her neck and arm (alas, it is never vanquished). It may shock or surprise you to learn that the discovery of unconsciousness-inducing anesthesia was greeted with sheer...more

like · see review

Feb 22, 2011 Pamela rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book convinced me of the physiological basis of chronic pain syndrome, which I'm embarrassed to say I didn't quite accept before. Thernstrom is lucid and persuasive about the way a one-time injury or even simply a biological predisposition can trigger a permanent overdrive in the pain-registering areas of the brain. The Pain Chronicles is a book in the tradition of Andrew Solomon's celebrated The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, in that it is empathically alive, beautifully written, h...more

like · see review

Sep 14, 2010 Jean rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a very comprehensive book on pain, almost too technical and historical. Definitely too historical in my opinion, I speed read a lot of that part. However, the rest of the book was very insightful. For anyone who has had to deal with the medical profession from the perspective of a patient you will see yourself in some part of this book. Dealing with pain and illness is difficult but the politics of the medical profession makes it worse.
"..if a doctor does not believe his or her patient,...more

like · see review

Jun 27, 2011 Allyson rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really loved this book, although initially I was inpatient with her self portrayal and unwillingness to accept her pain & seek interventions. But as she so eloquently details throughout her thought provoking and enlightening exploration of chronic pain phenomena, her experience was fairly common. I simply did not share it personally. So many of these pages contained resonating images and familiar scenarios to me, but from my vantage point I am so much luckier than the majority of her inclu...more

like · see review

Jun 20, 2011 Eva rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

This was a fascinating book delving into the different kinds of pain but especially chronic pain. The subject of pain and how doctors choose to treat pain and it's sypmtons is very interesting. So much is discussed in this narrative. The different types of pain medicines and amounts of drugs needed to conquer pain, why some work for some people and not others. The book goes into how the brain processes pain and how in some cases we can actually relieve our pain with our thoughts. I was amazed at...more

like · see review

Feb 01, 2011 Natalie rated it 1 of 5 stars

If you suffer from chronic pain, I do not recommend this book. I imagine that as a subject matter of general interest it might appeal to some. The author takes a look at pain from many cultures, points in history and its place in medicine. She also tries to weave in her own story of suffering from chronic pain. It is a very broad and far reaching endeavor. Unfortunately, as a result, she does not take enough time to truly delve into any of the topics thoroughly. The historical references are so...more

like 1 like · see review

Jan 19, 2011 Anna rated it 4 of 5 stars

As someone who has had chronic pain (more specifically, fibromyalgia) for years, I expected this book to piss me off, as most books written about chronic pain tend to have been written by people who do not have it themselves; though this is not always a problem (see, for example, the work of writers David Morris and Elaine Scarry), the vast majority of books that I’ve read on pain seem to be missing something—more specifically, perspective from the inside of a body in pain. Thernstrom, however,...more

like · see review

Jan 13, 2013 Susan added it

My husband suffers from chronic pain. I had hoped this book would help me understand his experience, but it did not. It helped me understand Melanie Thernstrom's experience, and it proved that pain is an in individual, not a universal, burden. This is not a self-help book, but an exploration of the ideas around pain, and it's an admirable endeavor. I would have liked it to be less meandering, but, again, this is the author's experience, not mine. There are worthwhile ideas to ponder here, but li...more

like · see review

Sep 30, 2010 angie rated it 4 of 5 stars

loved this- even if you don't suffer from chronic pain this is a great read. If you do live with chronic pain, as i do, it will help validate what you live with on a daily basis and answer some questions. If you know someone who suffers with pain - you should read this: it will give you great insight about what it's like to live as a pain sufferer and how much it affects the persons life in big and little ways. The author is a chronic pain patient so she has first hand experience with something...more

like · see review

Jul 12, 2011 Shree rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

It’s a very informative book detailing pain, its description in history and over time. The changes of how pain is perceived in various cultures, over history, over time, after the advent of anaesthesia and many other aspects.
I liked her various accounts of patient stories and experiences with doctors.
Her explanation of historical pain and its beginnings were too tedious and the minutiae were quite cumbersome and stultifying.
Overall a nice book but could’ve been much shorter and to the point. I...more

like · see review

Sep 28, 2011 pdxmaven rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: library-book

Think I read a review of this in the paper, and got it from the library. This is one of those situations where an author's own personal life experience then leads them to investigate a topic -- in this case, pain. So the "heavy stuff" on pain is interspersed with the author's own experiences: of having pain, trying to get medical help for her pain, and ultimately coming to acceptance. After a while, I gave up my usual "if you start a book, you gotta finish it all" M.O. for just reading through t...more Think I read a review of this in the paper, and got it from the library. This is one of those situations where an author's own personal life experience then leads them to investigate a topic -- in this case, pain. So the "heavy stuff" on pain is interspersed with the author's own experiences: of having pain, trying to get medical help for her pain, and ultimately coming to acceptance. After a while, I gave up my usual "if you start a book, you gotta finish it all" M.O. for just reading through the author's story of her own pain, and skipping the chapters on the more scientific/theoretical aspects of pain. I am sure that if I were dealing with significant pain in my own life, I would have read it all.

some quotes: In an antique illustration of hell I saw once, each of the damned had his or her own chamber, equipped with particular instruments of torture designed to fit--or rather, not fit, as the case was--the inhabitants, from the long rack for the short woman to the Procrustean bed for the giant fellow. page 128, in the chapter "A Particular Chamber in Hell"

reporting on a study of patients with fibromyalgia and chronic lower-back pain, in which patients have a device that can apply pressure attached to their thumbnails. "The investigators discovered that the subjects with fibromyalgia and back pain said they experienced mild pressure as painful, while the healthy control subjects experienced the squeeze as only slightly unpleasant." Then the subjects had functional imaging done on their brains, and the "functional imaging was able to see that the patients were truthfully describing their experiences as the imaging documented activation in the pain-processing areas of the brain--activation that was not seen in the control subjects' brains until the pressure on their thumbs was dramatically increased." page 142. Seems that something happens in the pain-processing centers of the brain, where they are over-activated, perhaps not unlike that of folks with high anxiety who "anxiety centers" are similarly over-activated.

(less)

like · see review

Nov 23, 2011 Kyle Wendy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Well written and meticulously researched, this was one of the most interesting books I've read in a while. The author is a chronic pain sufferer, which explains her interest. The beginning of the book is her story; how she developed the pain and how she lived with it. This part was irritating to me, because she seemed SO wishy washy about how to help herself, and how she felt like she had to hide it from the man (and eventually, other men) in her life. She also did not pursue treatment as aggres...more

like · see review

Aug 17, 2010 Julie Hilden rated it 5 of 5 stars

Melanie Thernstrom has written brilliant books before -- such as her examination of a murder/suicide at Harvard -- but this may be her very best. I've also very much enjoyed her frequent New York Times articles on pain and other topics. Her writing is consistently interesting and highly insightful, as well as graceful in every sentence. She is especially adept at weaving memoir and personal stories in with topics in intellectual history and science.

I loved THE PAIN CHRONICLES for all the same r...more

like 2 likes · see review

Feb 11, 2011 Nancy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, health

This book is 329 pages long and has 82 chapters, some as short as 1/2 page. It is easy to dip into and the chapters don't really need to be read in order. The format is a lot of short articles on different aspects of pain. This is not a story building toward finally finding The One Truth about Pain. Still, the author describes a number of treatments for reducing chronic pain so it would be useful for a person dealing with chronic pain. More than that though, it is an interesting read looking at...more

like · see review

Nov 06, 2012 Esther Cervantes rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012

An overview of the history of medical and popular thinking about pain, especially chronic pain, that seems comprehensive, well-researched, and thoughtful. The latter benefits from Thernstrom's own experience with chronic pain and search for effective treatment. Personal anecdotes and perspective throughout humanize the history, philosophy, and science, and the new knowledge and techniques she presents are exciting and hopeful to a fellow sufferer. Her observation that the subject is experiencing...more

like · see review

Oct 29, 2010 Danielle rated it 4 of 5 stars

After her own experiences with chronic severe pain Thernstrom examines pain from many angles. She looks into both current and historical treatments for pain as well as views of pain. She talks about her own journey with pain while examining the biological and psychological mechanisms that affect how and why we feel pain. I found it to be a really interesting book. Although as someone who is a chronic pain sufferer it also kind of scared me. Luckily most of pain is low end, extremely manageable p...more

like · see review

Nov 17, 2010 Katie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Interesting review of chronic pain and its maddening persistence even in the face of modern medicine. I like how she wove together a history of pain in general, and then also her own and others' chronic pain anecdotes--that kept it interesting. You might end up skimming parts of it unless you're particularly interested in the topic. I tend to enjoy medically-themed nonfiction though.

like · see review

Apr 13, 2011 Ruth Laura Edlund rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: memoir, non-fiction, audiobook

This was interesting enough but not well-suited to "consumption" as an audiobook. There were chapters with gruesome descriptions of, e.g., surgery without anesthesia that I would rather have skimmed than listened to in (literally) gory detail. The material on brain research at the end, however, was worth suffering through the early parts. The memoir aspects of the work could easily have been edited into a different book and might have made it stronger.

like · see review

title link	preview: The Pain Chronicles: Cures, Myths, Mysteries, Prayers, Diaries, Brain Scans, Healing, and the Science of Suffering
avg rating	preview: The Pain Chronicles: Cures, Myths, Mysteries, Prayers, Diaries, Brain Scans, Healing, and the Scienc Goodreads rating: 3.81 (345 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8063514-the-pain-chronicles?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316131137l/8063514.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8063514-the-pain-chronicles?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Pain Chronicles: Cures, Myths, Mysteries, Prayers, Diaries, Brain Scans, Healing, and the Science of Suffering by Melanie Thernstrom[/url]

The Pain Chronicles: Cures, Myths, Mysteries, Prayers, Diaries, Brain Scans, Healing, and the Science of Suffering

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (7)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Books by Melanie Thernstrom

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About The Pain Chronicl...

The Pain Chronicles: Cures, Myths, Mysteries, Prayers, Diaries, Brain Scans, Healing, and the Science of Suffering

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

combineOther Editions (7)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Books by Melanie Thernstrom

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About The Pain Chronicl...

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (7)