- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Thorsons (6 May 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0007155034
- ISBN-13: 978-0007155033
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 13 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 368,944 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Review
‘Reading your book has restored my self-respect. Before I blamed myself; now I see that society is to blame for making me feel bad about my illness. It is beautifully written. It made me cry. But it is just what everyone in my position needs.’ A reader of Shattered.
Product Description
A powerful account of life with M.E. from the eyes of a sufferer, describing the feeling of a ‘life interrupted’ through a variety of voices, Shattered will offer empathy, hope and support to sufferers and their families as well as giving practical advice on how to live with chronic fatigue.
It is March 1987. There is a flu bug doing the rounds in Edinburgh, which floors Lynn Michell and her two sons. Instead of pulling out of their ill and exhausted state, none of them gets better. It takes three years for Lynn's elder son to recover. She and her younger son are still ill 16 years later.
In Shattered, Lynn Michell tells of haunting episodes in her own life with ME, a "still life" suspended by a savagely capricious illness, as well as the stories of many others – men, women and young people – which convey the complexity of ME, an illness which deals out a slightly different hand of cards each time it strikes. This tapestry of voices is held together by Lynn's own intelligent, loving, and often angry commentary and as such it is a tour de force. While the first person snapshots of sufferers of all ages paint an accurate picture of "life interrupted", readers will find hope,
humour and ways of surviving as they recognise others who live and feel and react just as they do.
Dr Vance Spence writes in the foreword:
"Dr Lynn Michell has written a remarkable book – the product of her own experience as both an ME sufferer and a medical sociologist. (She) highlights the central themes which dominate this illness: the lack of a recognised diagnosis; the scepticism of medical professionals; the lack of support from family and friends; the deserts of fatigue and pain; the loneliness involved in the search for help and empathy. These are the voices of real people with terrible stories to tell. While people with ME and their carers will read this book and empathise, it should also be read by health and social care professionals for the insights that it gives."
Lynn Michell's purpose is unwavering throughout: to help others with this cruel illness find acknowledgement and validation in a cruel world.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I got throught this book in no time! if it confirmed one thing it was 'I have the same illness as the people described here'. it is the only book i have read which really explains how it feels to live with this illness, and is therefore helpful in putting into words what we want to tell loved ones friends and services about how this illness affects our lives. this is not wallowing in self-pity, this is validation and empowerment.
I would add however that although this book has its own important and truly valuable place in the literature on ME, it may not be the best book to read if you want a good general book on the condition. it is not a self-help manual (although there are some positive stories in here) and had i read it at an earlier stage in my illness when i was still far from understanding what was happening with my body i don't know if it would have hit the spot. A good general book on ME is the one by DR Ann Macintyre. CBT (mentioned by another reviewer), is helpful for some but is not a cure for ME - consider it a helping hand to better understanding your self and your illness and indeed this can assist towards recovery for a few. Personally I have tried CBT with an excellent therapist and found it interesting and somewhat useful but I am not the slightest bit improved in my ME! I think it has given me a more positive outlook however and better understanding of my illness.
I would add however that although this book has its own important and truly valuable place in the literature on ME, it may not be the best book to read if you want a good general book on the condition. it is not a self-help manual (although there are some positive stories in here) and had i read it at an earlier stage in my illness when i was still far from understanding what was happening with my body i don't know if it would have hit the spot. A good general book on ME is the one by DR Ann Macintyre. CBT (mentioned by another reviewer), is helpful for some but is not a cure for ME - consider it a helping hand to better understanding your self and your illness and indeed this can assist towards recovery for a few. Personally I have tried CBT with an excellent therapist and found it interesting and somewhat useful but I am not the slightest bit improved in my ME! I think it has given me a more positive outlook however and better understanding of my illness.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'm not an ME sufferer, but know a good few, and this book chimed with what their experiences have been like. It's refreshing to have a proper medical sociologist like Lynn Michell analysing key elements of the life experiences of a group of people, and bringing these elements together sensibly and cogently in a whole book. So different from the personal stories we hear so much about (usually by "recovered" patients with something to sell), or the normal blanket refusal to believe that these people really are ill. The inclusion in the book of a forward and research appendix by the biomedical research charity, MERGE, adds to its credibility. What's clear from this book, and the reactions to it, is that ME is a "dustbin" diagnosis with lots of different kinds of patients thrown in, unwanted and unhelped. Some of the ones with pure fatigue might be "cured" by so-called postive thinking, but most are physically ill, in pain, and have a hell of a time. Whether people like or not, these patients are out there in their thousands. Thanks to Lynn Michell, this tragedy has been brought to the attention of the world.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Lynn Michell's book Shattered is a tour de force. Powerfully written, it puts the human face to a disease suffered by over 250,000 people in the UK alone - 25,000 of them children. ME/CFS is for many, the living death. There is no proven efficacious treatment and there is no cure.
This is an intelligent book. It takes the reader into the lives of sufferers, it provokes and it is real. No pathos and no over emotion although it is terribly sad in parts, this book tells it like it is.
Shattered is not only a book for people with ME, but for all of us. It's a Must Have, Can't Put It Down item. It's excellent.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The most honest book on CFS/ME I have ever read
This book does tell it like it really is and hides nothing.
None of the false positivity here that often ends up making the reader feel they have somehow failed as they... Read more
None of the false positivity here that often ends up making the reader feel they have somehow failed as they... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Anne Dean
Really describes life with M.E.
This book has some of the best descriptions of what it feels like to have M.E. that I've ever read, especially the sensory overload elements of it. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Jodi-Hummingbird
Brilliant
I don't have M.E. but my best friend had it long before I met her and sometimes we would discuss it and compare it to an illness I have which used to attack my energy levels... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Tazz Rainbow
Illuminating misunderstanding of ME
The review from the reader from Leeds displays, yet again, the relentless misunderstanding and maligning that ME sufferers have to face - the very misunderstanding that Lynn... Read more
Published on 14 July 2004
A Must Buy!
I recently bought this book, I have suffered with M.E. for 7+ years, this book really brings home the reality of M.E. Read more
Published on 18 Nov 2003
You MUST buy this book
Whether you have M.E, know someone who does, care for someone with the illness or even if you're a professional, this book is a must have. Read more
Published on 6 Oct 2003
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