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Better Than Well: American Medicine Meets…
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Better Than Well: American Medicine Meets the American Dream (edition 2004)

by Carl Elliott, Peter D. Kramer (Introduction)

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992272,344 (3.42)None
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?… (more)
Member:anselmhouse
Title:Better Than Well: American Medicine Meets the American Dream
Authors:Carl Elliott
Other authors:Peter D. Kramer (Introduction)
Info:W. W. Norton & Company (2004), Paperback, 384 pages
Collections:Your library, Currently reading
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Tags:Medicine

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Better Than Well: American Medicine Meets the American Dream by Carl Elliott

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Interesting premise, but Dr. Elliot has difficulty sticking to the thesis -- the book feels like it is wandering, and overstuffed. I ended up feeling like only the first two chapters actually discussed enhancement technologies at all. ( )
  settingshadow | Aug 19, 2023 |
An interesting and somewhat creepy collection of the stories of people whose personal idea of physical perfection doesn't quite square with cultural norms. ( )
  Katya0133 | Feb 28, 2009 |
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Carl Elliottprimary authorall editionscalculated
Kramer, Peter D.Introductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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In the late 1960s , the pharmaceutical company Sandoz began marketing a new tranquilizer called Serentil.
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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?

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W.W. Norton

An edition of this book was published by W.W. Norton.

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