Shapeshifters: A Journey Through the Changing Human Body

by Gavin Francis

Overview

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. In Shapeshifters, 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, Shapeshifters combines Francis's lyrical imagination and deep knowledge of medicine and the humanities for a life-altering read.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541697522
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	06/05/2018
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	692,740
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Gavin Francis is 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.

Table of Contents

A Note on confidentiality xiii

1 Transformation 1

2 Werewolves Agitation at the Full Moon 6

3 Conception The First and Second Reason for Existing 17

4 Sleep The Chamber of Dreams 30

5 Bodybuilding Unhelmed by Fury 39

6 Scalp Of Horns, Terror and Glory 50

7 Birth Reshaping the Heart 59

8 Rejuvenation An Alchemy of Youth and Beauty 69

9 Tattooing The Art of Transformation 79

10 Anorexia The Enchantment of Control 90

11 Hallucination A Sphere of Devils 99

12 Puberty Suddenly Accelerated Youth 108

13 Pregnancy The Most Meticulous Work 119

14 Gigantism Two Giants of Turin 133

15 Gender The Two Lives of Tiresias 143

16 Jetlag The Brain that Holds the Sky 157

17 Bonesetting An Algebra of Healing 164

18 Menopause Third Face of the Goddess 174

19 Castration Hope, Love and Sacrifice 184

20 Laughter Some Eminency in Ourselves 195

21 Prosthetics Humanity 2.0 202

22 Memory Palaces of Forgetting 213

23 Death The Celebration of Life 229

24 Transformations 240

Gratitude 245

Notes on Sources 248

List of Illustrations 262

Index 265

Editorial Reviews

04/02/2018
An Edinburgh physician, Francis (Adventures in Human Being) undertakes a thoughtful exploration of diverse “transformations” of the human body. His topics include normal anatomical changes such as pregnancy and puberty; abnormal conditions such as anorexia and gigantism; the biological underpinnings of sleep, memory, and jet lag; and external efforts at reshaping the body such as through tattooing and cosmetic surgery. The chapters function less as formal essays than as observations of psychological and cultural links to biological phenomena. They tend to follow a similar formula: mythological, historical, or literary reference; scientific explanation; and anecdotal case—with some variation in the order. This formula, though effective, becomes overly predictable; the chapters are best read a few at a time, according to interest, the way one might browse encyclopedia entries. The scientific explanations often read like excerpts from a medical textbook (“The heart develops in the throat from the vessels of these gill arches, and the ductus arises from the residue of the sixth arch”) and may tax readers without a background in anatomy or biology. The standout chapters—which concern “Werewolves,” “Bodybuilding,” “Castration,” and “Prosthetics”—are those that do the best job of blending the book’s various interpretive lenses. Francis’s wide-ranging experience and curiosity produce fascinating samples of medical and cultural approaches to human change, albeit ones best consumed in small portions. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"In this provocative and important book about our shared future, Francis ranges broadly to describe altered human states and selves. He delves into medical history, and, with equal ease, into medical case studies, to reveal how humans are capable of changing our bodies and minds. Steeped as much in history as in the future, we might describe this book as an audacious attempt to write a manifesto for a trans-human future (read it to understand what that phrase might mean)."—Siddartha Mukherjee, author of The Emperor of All Maladies and TheGene

"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 and change, embedding his thoughts in a broad frame of reference from across human culture and history. Each piece is a pleasure to read, and in sum they are inspiring."—Hilary Mantel, Man Booker Prize-winning author of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies

"Ambitious... [Francis] is well schooled in the literature of medical curiosities, from Galen to Sir Thomas Browne and beyond. But Shapeshifters is at its best, and strangest, when dealing with mundane translations: puberty, pregnancy, menopause, the not so simple facts of our being sexed beings. Francis has an engaging way with medical-cultural history... Such is the breadth of [his] interests that Shapeshifters is never less than intellectually energetic."—Guardian (UK)

"A thought-provoking read."—Book Riot

"Francis elegantly weaves detailed descriptions of physiological processes together with memories, anecdotes, and tales from history to produce a rich narrative that is informative and surprising... a pleasure to read."—The Lancet

"A thoughtful exploration.... Francis's wide-ranging experience and curiosity produce fascinating samples of medical and cultural approaches to human change."—Publishers Weekly

"Gavin Francis makes being a doctor sound like the best job in the world.... The 24 essays in this collection...all circle the theme of metamorphosis, and shed light on the biases of modern medicine even while celebrating its achievements."—Village Voice

"What makes the book fun to read is not only the author's limpid anecdotes from his private practice, but also his abiding marvel at the body's endless expressions. Francis ranges freely and skillfully from the strange to the elemental... [he] always makes you think. Captivating medical narratives that fit well alongside those of Oliver Sachs, Atul Gawande, Jerome Groopman, and Berton Roueché."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"[A] timely, thought-provoking and eloquent book... Francis is the opposite of the arrogant doctor-god. Indeed with this book, brimming both with warmth and insight, he puts himself among the ranks of physicians with fine pens, including Oliver Sacks and Atul Gawande, who, for all their learning, retain a deep humility."—The Times (UK)

"Reading these essays is like touring a museum of medical marvels led by the best guide; one with boundless curiosity, a taste for the weird and a deep well of thoughtfulness and knowledge. Shapeshifters is about bodily change, from normal transitions such as conception, menopause and sleep, to anomalies and disorders — amputation, anorexia, people who have grown horns. What gives this book heart are Gavin Francis's moving encounters, as a working GP, with people whose bodies have undergone strange transformations."—The Times of London (UK)

"The heart of the book is about the key life transitions: conception, birth, puberty, pregnancy, menopause, death—and sleep. Francis's method is to weave together stories from his general practice, his medical training and his travels, with a host of quotes, references and anecdotes from art, literature and history. The result is a rich pleasure."—Sunday Times (UK)

"[An] enthralling collection of illustrated pieces about human transformation.... Dr. Francis will leave you marveling at the physical self you carry around with you every day."—Daily Express (UK)

"This is a fascinating account, full of detail that one would otherwise not know, and full of openness in terms of the difficulties, triumph, disasters and glories of a career in medicine."—Scotsman (UK)

"The insight [Francis] offers into the physician's realm is profoundly affecting.... Shapeshifters provides a fascinating account of humankind's efforts down the millennia to understand our minds and bodies in order to prolong life and wellbeing...beautifully written as well as extremely absorbing."—Herald Scotland (UK)

"Wonderful, written with a deep feeling for language. A writer-physician who sees the drama and beauty in human life."—Annie Dillard, author of An American Childhood and Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

"A wonderful series of meditations—clinical, anthropological, literary and deeply humane—on his patients and their illnesses."—Henry Marsh, author of Do No Harm

From the Publisher

★ 2018-04-03
A physician/writer celebrates the dynamism and transformation of the human body and life.Francis (Adventures in Human Being: A Grand Tour from the Cranium to the Calcaneum, 2015, etc.), who regularly contributes to the London Review of Books and the Guardian, brings well-honed knowledge to these short chapters on the perpetual metamorphosis of the human body. What makes the book fun to read is not only the author's limpid anecdotes, but also his abiding marvel at the body's endless expressions. Francis ranges freely and skillfully from the strange to the elemental, such as pregnancy, "a primitive reminder that [the body's] changes are often beyond control; that bodies have their own rhythms, waypoints and fixed destinations." The author also explores the body's acts: sleep, for example, during which vital cerebral hygiene is at stake, and dreaming, which tends to our restless minds and "transforms our fear, shame and dark ambitions into…narratives." Francis is clearly drawn to curiosities, but he never makes them seem freakish—nor is he judgmental, but rather colorfully frank: Think steroids are the only road to a fine physique? Consider the risks of diabetes, infertility, depression, uncontainable bouts of rage, and wicked acne. These chapters can easily be read as stand-alones—the chapter on jetlag is followed by one on ancient and modern bone-setting techniques—but it's also satisfying to binge-read a number of them at once. While it might be disappointing to read that "we don't have much idea as to why we laugh"; appalling to consider that late-19th-century Vatican officials were still castrating young boys for its choir; and infuriating to read that the return of tuberculosis is a direct result of poverty, as are so many other maladies, Francis always makes you think.Captivating medical narratives that fit well alongside those of Oliver Sachs, Atul Gawande, Jerome Groopman, and Berton Roueché.

Kirkus Reviews