Virginia Woolf observes that though illness is part of every human being's experience, it has rarely been the focus of literature - like the more acceptable subjects of war and love. We cannot quote Shakespeare to describe a headache. We must, Woolf says, invent language to describe pain. Illness enhances our perceptions and, she observes, it reduces self-consciousness, it is "the great confessional." Throughout On Being Ill, Woolf discusses the taboos associated with illness, and she explores how illness transforms experience and changes our relationship to the world around us.

All Editions

Hardcover, 11th Edition

ISBN13: 9781930464063

Paris Press, 2002

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