Library Journal - Audio
09/01/2022
In a work that is both memoir and documentary, artist and writer Róisín (Like a Bird) interrogates the extraction and commodification of wellness modalities from their Indigenous practitioners by white capitalist societies. This book deplores the practice of making these modalities palatable to a white audience by divorcing them from the spiritualism of their Indigenous practitioners and by pricing these modalities beyond the means of many BIPOC people who would benefit from them. Róisín narrates her own work herself, which brings an intimacy and intensity that insists the listener reexamine the global cost of unrestrained capitalism and biopiracy. She employs a standard American modulation and speaking style. This book is recommended for those interested in BIPOC issues and work by BIPOC writers and thinkers. VERDICT It would also be of interest to survivors of abuse and feelings of alienation or those wanting to learn about the impact of capitalism on the ecologies of non-Western nations.—David Faucheux
Publishers Weekly
★ 03/28/2022
In this blistering blend of memoir and cultural criticism, novelist Róisín (Like a Bird) traces her path to healing as an abuse survivor and takes an unsparing look at the appropriation and corruption of Eastern spiritual practices for Western audiences. Róisín’s childhood was marred by her mother’s unpredictable and violent behavior, and as an adult, those painful memories long went unprocessed. Her healing process, she writes, involved understanding intergenerational trauma and recognizing how it has a physical effect on one’s body, and how interconnected the mind and the body are. Alongside her personal story, Róisín explains how the “wellness industrial complex” works as “a modern arm of imperialism” as “whiteness and capital have... relegat caring for oneself as a privilege.” Meditation, for instane, has been “divorce... from its spiritual roots,” and while “meditation came from my people,” she writes, she learned about it “through white people’s interpretation.” Ultimately, Róisín’s answer to the question her title poses is that “wellness isn’t for anyone if it isn’t for everyone,” and through vivid writing and striking curiosity, she makes a solid case for making it so. This profoundly enriching survey nails it. Agent: Monika Woods, Triangle House. (June)
From the Publisher
Who is Wellness For? is a crucial look at the commodification of care that’s timely and precise, yet deeply soulful. Treading a fine line between cynic and disciple, Fariha Róisín guides us through modalities of healing with a critical and compassionate eye. Who is Wellness For? is a plea for empathy, hope, and yes, self-care.” — Stephanie Danler, author of Sweetbitter and Stray
“In Who is Wellness For?, Fariha Róisín offers no quick fixes or easy answers to processing the human condition. Yet, if truth has the power to heal, then Róisín’s work is the best kind of healing.” — Ashley Ford, author of Somebody’s Daughter
“In an age of desensitization, Fariha Róisín’s Who Is Wellness For? is an act of resistance. Stimulating, dispersive, and kaleidoscopic, Who Is Wellness For? insists on a multivalent definition of mental, physical, personal, and social wellness. Refusing any false delineations between memoir and social commentary, Róisín creates a clear yet complex tapestry that reveals the conjoined domains of self and collective.” — Jessica Dore, LSW, author of Tarot for Change: Using the Cards for Self-Care, Acceptance and Growth
“In Who is Wellness For?, Fariha teaches us that our collective survival is miraculous, and that we need to consistently honor that blessing. Her integrity to healing shows that the work is grueling and vulnerable, yet deeply necessary. I have sobbed, sighed, and smiled while reading this book, and I am deeply moved that we get to witness Fariha hold herself while so generously guiding us toward holding ourselves too.” — Mimi Zhu, author of Be Not Afraid of Love
“In Who is Wellness For?, Fariha Róisín investigates how cultural and indigenous forms of wellness are often repackaged and resold, upholding and reinforcing colonial structures of oppression, disempowerment and cultural appropriation. So, how do we break free from Wellness Inc.? Fariha provides both an escape and a solution, allowing readers to move towards a new pathway to healing.” — Céline Semaan, founder of Slow Factory Foundation
“In this vital work, Fariha Roisin deconstructs, and then tenderly rebuilds, the concept of “wellness” with stunning insight, giving us a new, liberatory vision of what true healing can look like— not just for ourselves, but for all of us. Weaving together an encyclopedic knowledge of the wellness-industrial-complex with her own compelling journey towards healing, Roisin offers a truly holistic roadmap to a softer world. Everyone must read this book.” — Zeba Blay, author of Carefree Black Girls
"In Who Is Wellness For?, Fariha Roisin offers us a courageous and profound exploration of what it truly means to heal—ourselves, our communities, the larger culture, and the planet as a whole. With vulnerability and grace, she describes her continued healing journey, providing us with a beautiful and tender portrait of what true wellness is alongside an analysis of the many social and political realities throughout history that have shaped our shared trauma. Brave, generous, and expansive, Who Is Wellness For? provides insights and guidance for how to live compassionately for the collective." — Sebene Selassie, author of You Belong: A Call for Connection
“In this blistering blend of memoir and cultural criticism, novelist Róisín (Like a Bird) traces her path to healing as an abuse survivor and takes an unsparing look at the appropriation and corruption of Eastern spiritual practices for Western audiences. . . . Ultimately, Róisín’s answer to the question her title poses is that ‘wellness isn’t for anyone if it isn’t for everyone,’ and through vivid writing and striking curiosity, she makes a solid case for making it so. This profoundly enriching survey nails it.” — Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
Ashley Ford
In Who is Wellness For?, Fariha Róisín offers no quick fixes or easy answers to processing the human condition. Yet, if truth has the power to heal, then Róisín’s work is the best kind of healing.
Céline Semaan
In Who is Wellness For?, Fariha Róisín investigates how cultural and indigenous forms of wellness are often repackaged and resold, upholding and reinforcing colonial structures of oppression, disempowerment and cultural appropriation. So, how do we break free from Wellness Inc.? Fariha provides both an escape and a solution, allowing readers to move towards a new pathway to healing.
Stephanie Danler
Who is Wellness For? is a crucial look at the commodification of care that’s timely and precise, yet deeply soulful. Treading a fine line between cynic and disciple, Fariha Róisín guides us through modalities of healing with a critical and compassionate eye. Who is Wellness For? is a plea for empathy, hope, and yes, self-care.
Mimi Zhu
In Who is Wellness For?, Fariha teaches us that our collective survival is miraculous, and that we need to consistently honor that blessing. Her integrity to healing shows that the work is grueling and vulnerable, yet deeply necessary. I have sobbed, sighed, and smiled while reading this book, and I am deeply moved that we get to witness Fariha hold herself while so generously guiding us toward holding ourselves too.
Zeba Blay
In this vital work, Fariha Roisin deconstructs, and then tenderly rebuilds, the concept of “wellness” with stunning insight, giving us a new, liberatory vision of what true healing can look like— not just for ourselves, but for all of us. Weaving together an encyclopedic knowledge of the wellness-industrial-complex with her own compelling journey towards healing, Roisin offers a truly holistic roadmap to a softer world. Everyone must read this book.
Sebene Selassie
"In Who Is Wellness For?, Fariha Roisin offers us a courageous and profound exploration of what it truly means to heal—ourselves, our communities, the larger culture, and the planet as a whole. With vulnerability and grace, she describes her continued healing journey, providing us with a beautiful and tender portrait of what true wellness is alongside an analysis of the many social and political realities throughout history that have shaped our shared trauma. Brave, generous, and expansive, Who Is Wellness For? provides insights and guidance for how to live compassionately for the collective."
Jessica Dore
In an age of desensitization, Fariha Róisín’s Who Is Wellness For? is an act of resistance. Stimulating, dispersive, and kaleidoscopic, Who Is Wellness For? insists on a multivalent definition of mental, physical, personal, and social wellness. Refusing any false delineations between memoir and social commentary, Róisín creates a clear yet complex tapestry that reveals the conjoined domains of self and collective.
Library Journal
01/01/2022
Canadian-born, Australian-raised, Brooklyn-based, and self-identified as a Muslim queer Bangladeshi, accomplished poet/novelist Roisin (Like a Bird) considers how the wellness industry commodifies things associated with her South Asian heritage, from food to customs to prayer, primarily for the benefit of white people. In the end, the Black, Brown and Indigenous peoples on whose culture wellness is built are essentially excluded. With a 50,000-copy first printing.
Kirkus Reviews
2022-04-13
An exploration of the ways in which the wellness industry simultaneously commoditizes non-White cultures and renders services inaccessible to marginalized peoples.
Róisín, a freelance writer who was raised Muslim by Bengali parents in Australia, frames the book with the question: “If [wellness] was for someone like me, pilfered from my very own culture, then why couldn’t I afford it?” Seeking to answer this question and others, the author divides the narrative into four sections—mind, body, self-care, and justice—each of which weaves a specific aspect of health care in with Róisín’s personal experiences. In the section on the mind, for example, the author interrogates how her abusive mother’s lack of access to therapy passed on intergenerational mental trauma. During her healing process, Róisín began practicing meditation, which she later found out had been divorced from its ancient Indian roots to make it more palatable to Western nations and easier to commodify in a capitalist society. In the section on the body, the author explores how her history as a survivor of sexual abuse instilled in her the harmful belief that her body was not actually her own. She then documents how a massage therapist who had previously helped her gain relief from the physical manifestations of abuse on her muscles violated her trust by callously discussing a highly publicized incest case in a moment when the author sought refuge from the triggering news cycles. Ultimately, Róisín calls for a more sustainable, equitable approach to healing. Only occasionally dense, the author’s prose is engaging, and she delves into her past with vulnerability and self-compassion. The book is deeply researched and laudably includes the work of a variety of Black and Indigenous scholars to make a unique and relevant case for the need for greater accessibility to healing.
A vulnerable, intensely trenchant analysis of the ways capitalism denies wellness for so many around the world.
