Rewriting Illness

By: Elizabeth Benedict

Narrated by: Elizabeth Benedict

By turns somber and funny but above all provocative, Elizabeth Benedict’s Rewriting Illness: A View of My Own is a most unconventional memoir. With wisdom, self-effacing wit, and the storytelling skills of a seasoned novelist, she brings to life her cancer diagnosis and committed hypochondria. As she discovers multiplying lumps in her armpit, she describes her initial terror, interspersed with moments of self-mocking levity as she indulges in “natural remedies”, among them chanting Tibetan mantras, drinking shots of wheat grass, and finding medicinal properties in chocolate babka. She tracks the progression of her illness from muddled diagnosis to debilitating treatment as she gathers sustenance from her family and an assortment of urbane, ironic friends, including her fearless “cancer guru”.

In brief, explosive chapters with startling titles–“Was It the Krazy Glue?” and “Not Everything Scares the Shit out of Me”–Benedict investigates existential questions: Is there a cancer personality? Can trauma be passed on generationally? Can cancer be stripped of its warlike metaphors? How do doctors’ own fears influence their comments to patients? Is there a gendered response to illness? Why isn’t illness one of literature’s great subjects? And delving into her own history, she wonders if having had children would have changed her life as a writer and hypochondriac. Post diagnosis, Benedict asks, “Which fear is worse: the fear of knowing or the reality of knowing? (164)”

Throughout, Benedict’s humor, wisdom, and warmth jacket her fears, which are personal, political, and ultimately global, when the world is pitched into a pandemic. Amid weighty concerns and her all-consuming obsession with illness, her story is filled with suspense, secrets, and even the unexpected solace of silence.

©2023 Elizabeth Benedict (P)2023 Post Hypnotic Press Inc.

Best listen of the year so far

Elizabeth Benedict deserves the triple crown. Her memoir is funny, heartwarming and extremely well read. It takes courage, talent and insight to find the witty in serious illness. The clever chapter titles alone are worth the price of admission. I’ve recommended the book to three friends all of whom have thanked me profusely. I look forward to listening to one of her numerous novels.

Wise, often humorous memoir of illness

I loved this funny, modest, probing account of a novelist's bout with cancer, from the moment she finds a lump in her armpit, to the end of medical treatment. Composed of short essayistic segments with wry titles (e.g. "What I Wanted to Say to the Doctor" "My Own Private Hypochondria" "I Got Sick and Then I Got Better"), it's also about her joyful second marriage, family, work, and response to Susan Sontag's "Illness as Metaphor." Despite the subject matter, it's never depressing or egocentric. Benedict comes across as someone with the wisdom and honesty you'd want in a friend.

Medical malady memoir

A moving memoir that provides a view into the life of a middle-aged woman fighting for her life while navigating the intricacies of the US medical system right before and through COVID lockdowns. Reflections provide great insights about how the cancer journey has changed over the last few decades as well as how it changes oneself. A powerful read for any woman or man looking for insights into the struggles with a life threatening illness.