NATURAL CAUSES An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer

Narrator Joyce Bean strikes just the right blend of prickly and wry humor for Barbara Ehrenreich's polemic countering a number of sacred cows in health care. Ehrenreich rails against over-testing, the unclear benefits of mindfulness, and workplace wellness programs that cause stress rather than good health. Employing the twin lenses of class and cellular biology, she rejects the argument that individuals can control their health. Bean's delivery is clear, energetic, and appropriately unsentimental but with an underlying tone of irony and absurdity that provides levity. It all matches Ehrenreich perfectly. Ehrenreich asserts that she is now old enough to die and so is done with annual physicals and will seek medical care only to treat symptoms. Of course, there are millions of Americans who lack access to medical care at the same time that others are overtreated. A.B. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2018]