Shapeshifters: A Journey Through the Changing Human Body

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.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 06/05/2018
ISBN: 9781541697522
Pages: 304
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.80w x 1.20d

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 04/02/2018
Kirkus Reviews 04/15/2018 pg. 54
Choice 12/01/2018