Better Than Well: American Medicine Meets the American Dream [Paperback]

Carl Elliott (Author), Peter D. Kramer (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2004

"Elliott's absorbing account will make readers think again about the ways that science shapes our personal identities."—American Scientist

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

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

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Elliott, a professor of bioethics and philosophy at the University of Minnesota, has discovered one of the biggest American maladies and fears-social phobia-and knows that Americans are on the hunt for the cure. His book reads like a travelogue that takes readers through the many forms of remedy, from Viagra, Paxil, and Botox, to the other American disease, "boredom" and our various responses to it. In the 19th century, "personalities were not just facades but outward indicators," he writes, that revealed you "as you really were." Adding to our self-consciousness, are "mirrors, photographs, films, television, home video, and the World Wide Web." We watch celebrities who are aware that they are being watched, and compounding the problem is "the strange loneliness and alienation that comes from watching." Arguing that "now we are excessively self-conscious about being self-conscious," Elliott, packing the book with intriguing examples of manifestations as well as cultural references, examines our self-consciousness and the roots of it. The writing is intelligent and thought provoking, but readers looking for a self-help book or any easy answer will not find it here.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Bioethics/philosophy professor Elliott on our love/hate relationship with drugs and other "enhancement technologies."
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (June 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393325652
• ISBN-13: 978-0393325652
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #252,851 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carl Elliott prefers to write about himself in the third person in order to give the impression that he is too important to submit his own biography. A native South Carolinian, Elliott teaches bioethics and philosophy at the University of Minnesota and writes occasionally for magazines such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly and Slate.com. His estranged younger brother ridicules him periodically at the unfortunate website, www.whitecoatblackhat.com. His attorneys are addressing the situation.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The American Conundrum, April 1, 2003

By 

Irene M. Piekarski "booky" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Better Than Well: American Medicine Meets the American Dream (Hardcover)

This book, beautifully written, is a meditation on the looking glass world American Medicine has become. Forty-one million Americans uninsured, yet billions are being spent on medicallizing common aspects of human life. We all age--are facelifts really a "medical " procedure? Is shyness a disease? When does naming something produce it? (see Barfield's Poetic Diction).
I loved this book for clarifying the various ways we have of looking at health, wellness, self-improvement and fear.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Stepping Stone or a Synopsis, March 26, 2011

By 

Justin Teague - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Better Than Well: American Medicine Meets the American Dream (Paperback)

If you've only read a little bit of philosophy, this is great place to begin. It's written very casually and gently wanders from topic to topic, but lacks structure and rigor. It drops many keen perceptions about contemporary life and selfhood, but the better ones are all from works cited. And uncited-- what really pisses me off is that the great 20th century philosopher Martin Heidegger is never mentioned even though he more than anyone else got people talking about the major themes of this book-- the tension between egoism and authenticity, the plagues of anxiety and boredom, the life-draining force of technological thinking and the need for an appreciation of experience, and so on. So, if you want a serious meditation on these themes, one that reaches far deeper than Elliot does, read Heidegger, his influences, and those he influenced. But if you want a place to start, Elliot is far easier. Or, if you want to reminded of many themes of existentialism with reference to contemporary life, give it a read if you have some extra time.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible, November 4, 2009

By 

Simon Matthew (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Better Than Well: American Medicine Meets the American Dream (Paperback)

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