From birth to death, a lyrical exploration of the role of transformation in human life
To be alive is to be in perpetual metamorphosis: growing, healing, learning, aging. InShapeshifters, physician and writer Gavin Francis considers the inevitable changes all of our bodies undergo--such as birth, puberty, and death, but also laughter, sleeping, and healing-and those that only some of our bodies will: like getting a tattoo, experiencing psychosis, suffering anorexia, being pregnant, or undergoing a gender transition. In Francis's hands, each event becomes an opportunity to explore the meaning of identity and the natures-biological, psychological, and philosophical-of our selves. True to its own subject,Shapeshifterscombines Francis's lyrical imagination and deep knowledge of medicine and the humanities for a life-altering read.
Gavin Francisis a physician and the award-winning author of four books, including
Adventures in Human Being,
Empire Antarctica; and
True North. A regular contributor to the
London Review of Books,
Guardian, and
New York Review of Books, Francis lives in Edinburgh, Scotland. In this provocative andimportant book about our shared future, Francis ranges broadly to describe alteredhuman states and selves. He delves into medical history, and, with equal ease,into medical case studies, to reveal how humans are capable of changing ourbodies and minds. Steeped as much in history as in the future, we mightdescribe this book as an audacious attempt to write a manifesto for atrans-human future (read it to understand what that phrase might mean).
Siddartha Mukherjee,author ofThe Emperor of All MaladiesandThe Gene This stylish and exhilarating collection of essays comes from a wide-ranging mind and a profound humanity. With warmth and wit, Gavin Francis examines the body's strategies for survival anlq
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