Product Description

Steve McQueen had cancer and was keeping it secret. Then the media found out, and soon all of America knew. McQueen's high profile changed forever the way the public perceived a dreaded disease.

In When Illness Goes Public, Barron H. Lerner describes the evolution of celebrities' illnesses from private matters to stories of great public interest. Famous people who have become symbols of illness include Lou Gehrig, the first "celebrity patient"; Rita Hayworth, whose Alzheimer disease went undiagnosed for years; and Arthur Ashe, who courageously went public with his AIDS diagnosis before the media could reveal his secret. And then there are private citizens like Barney Clark, the first recipient of a permanent artificial heart, and Lorenzo Odone, whose neurological disorder became the subject of a Hollywood film.

While celebrity illnesses have helped to inform patients about treatment options, ethical controversies, and scientific proof, the stories surrounding these illnesses have also assumed mythical characteristics that may be misleading. Marrying great storytelling to an exploration of the intersection of science, journalism, fame, and legend, this book is a groundbreaking contribution to our understanding of health and illness.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #698278 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

From Booklist
Today it's commonplace for Carnie Wilson to chat about her gastric bypass surgery on talk shows or Sally Field to hype a drug by talking about her osteoporosis. Celebrities yapping about what ails them wasn't always common, however, and Lerner believes that its prevalence now indicates cultural changes worth noting. Celebs have come to receive groundbreaking interventions previously -unknown to the general public, whether those consist of antibiotics, as in the case of Franklin Roosevelt Jr., or technological inventions, such as Barney Clark's artificial heart, and to introduce them to the general public, causing thousands to then seek the new treatment. They also create connections to fellow sufferers who identify with and may be inspired by how a celebrity handles the same affliction. Benefits aside, Lerner cautions that there can be considerable drawbacks. After actor Steve McQueen chose alternative cancer treatments in Mexico, thousands flocked over the border seeking similar therapies and encountered similar failure. Others whose stories Lerner retells for his insightful analysis include athletes Jim Piersall and Arthur Ashe. Donna Chavez
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Review

"In dissecting the illnesses of these famous people, Dr. Lerner brilliantly separates science from the mythologized, bravely battling celebrity. Riveting reading." -- Lynn Redgrave and Annabel Clark, authors of Journal: A Mother and Daughter's Recovery from Breast Cancer

"It's odd: When a celebrity falls ill, the illness becomes a celebrity, and public life democratized is made generally useful. Barron Lerner has created a fascinating book of this original observation." -- Roger Rosenblatt

"Celebrities yapping about what ails them wasn't always common, however, and Lerner believes that its prevalence now indicates cultural changes worth noting... Insightful analysis." -- Booklist

"A readable and thoroughly researched book. (Rated four stars: Excellent)" -- British Medical Journal

"Lerner has created a powerful prism through his thoughtful exploration of celebrity illness, highlighting societal and cultural forces that widely affect public and private health care decisions... Lerner's skills are superbly demonstrated in detailing complicated stories... fascinating analysis." -- JAMA

"Lerner offers a superb volume rich with thorough and entertaining recollections and other information not previously in the public domain... A clear, concise, and captivating treatise that holds the interest of lay readers and yet illuminates for medical professionals issues that are important to the individual patient as well as the scientific community." -- Journal of Clinical Investigation

"Lerner has done a beautiful job of tracing the degree to which celebrity patients have reflected and shaped the modern American understanding of doctors, patients, and illness. This book is a pleasure to read because of its compelling storytelling and analysis." -- New England Journal of Medicine

"Physician and associate professor Lerner is blessed with the ability to research widely and write lucidly... Well documented and indexed, this highly readable book deserves a broad audience." -- Choice

"Interesting book, and the writing is sprightly." -- Roxanna Stein, RALPH: Review of Arts, Literature, Philosophy, and the Humanities

"Engaging and intriguing... Can be enjoyed by a broad public interested in the modern intertwining of the concerns of celebrity and health." -- Steven Epstein, Isis

"When Illness Goes Public says much about the development of ideas of illness in American culture." -- Jasmine Gartner, Social History of Medicine

"Compelling... We can learn quite a bit about our society, culture, and values from the way celebrities' illnesses are publicly portrayed. As Lerner perceptively demonstrates, descriptions of illness and death ultimately have as much to do with how people want to imagine these experiences as with actual events... Lerner is at his best when he uses his considerable narrative skills to place these stories into their broader historical, cultural and ethical contexts." -- Michael J. Green, American Journal of Bioethics

"In Lerner's capable hands, these dozen stories in their retelling are both colorfully dramatic narratives, ripped from the headlines (as the saying now goes) and also probing samples of historically specific contingencies and shifting attitudes." -- Chris Feudtner, Bulletin of the History of Medicine

"These 12 stories... delight and instruct readers about our own health and eventual mortality, and these are important things to know." -- John C. Bailar, III, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine

"Well-written, professionally documented." -- Robert S. Robins, Journal of American History

From the Back Cover

Chosen as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2007 by Choice Magazine

In When Illness Goes Public, Barron H. Lerner describes how celebrities' illnesses have evolved from private matters to stories of great public interest. Famous symbols of illness include Lou Gehrig, the first "celebrity patient"; Rita Hayworth, whose Alzheimer disease went undiagnosed for years; and Arthur Ashe, who courageously went public with his AIDS diagnosis before the media could reveal his secret. And then there are private citizens like Barney Clark, the first recipient of a permanent artificial heart, and Lorenzo Odone, whose neurological disorder became the subject of a Hollywood film.

Marrying great storytelling to an exploration of the intersection of science, journalism, fame, and legend, this book is a groundbreaking contribution to our understanding of health and illness.

"Lerner has created a powerful prism through his thoughtful exploration of celebrity illness, highlighting societal and cultural forces that widely affect public and private health care decisions... [A] fascinating analysis." -- JAMA

"Lerner offers a superb volume rich with thorough and entertaining recollections and other information not previously in the public domain... A clear, concise, and captivating treatise that holds the interest of lay readers and yet illuminates for medical professionals issues that are important to the individual patient as well as the scientific community." -- Journal of Clinical Investigation

"Lerner has done a beautiful job of tracing the degree to which celebrity patients have reflected and shaped the modern American understanding of doctors, patients, and illness. This book is a pleasure to read because of its compelling storytelling and analysis." -- New England Journal of Medicine

"Engaging and intriguing... Can be enjoyed by a broad public interested in the modern intertwining of the concerns of celebrity and health." -- Isis

Customer Reviews

Lerner Writes Another Winner
Barron Lerner uses 12 case histories to tell how public attitudes affected medicine. When Lou Gehrig developed the lethal ALS, his doctors "protected" him by never telling him the diagnosis or what was going to happen to him. 20 years later the renowned LIFE photographer was diagnosed with Parkinson disease but did not know for 2 years because the information was witheld from her. As the years went by, however, celebrity patients became advocates for research and patient care on behalf of other people with the disease. Some, like Gehrig and Bourke-White were already celebrities when they became ill. Other's became celebrities by virtue of the illness, including Lorenzo Odone (of the film "Lorenzo's Oil"). By pulicizing the long hours of hospital call for sleep-deprived doctors-in-training, the case of Libby Zion changed residency training throough the US. Lerner is a master story teller, and shows how the cases changed the public from subservience to independence and activism.

Diseases of the rich and famous
In a culture where movie stars and politicians post their drug rehabilitation schedules online, we have almost completely forgotten that until a short while ago many diseases were not discussed in public, even by the most celebrated citizens. Barron Lerner's new book reminds us that the tell--all habits of the rich and famous are a recent development, and we learn how the process started to open up more than sixty-five years ago with baseball star Lou Gehrig. It took an announcement that the Gerhig had a rare disease to explain how his legendary streak of consecutive games was broken. Now many people who never went to a baseball game know "Lou Gerhig's disease" because of Yankee Iron Man's willingness to go public. Lerner is unusual, since he was trained as a both an historian and a physican, and that makes this book even more rare: an extremely readable piece of medical history written clearly enough to be of interest--not just to doctors and academics, but to just about anyone who has an interest in Lerner's cast of characters and the maladies they endured.

One of my favorites in the book is Jimmy Pearsall, another man who became a baseball legend, less for his athletic performances than his bizarre antics between plays and off the field. Lerner explains how bipolar disorder was Pearsall's demon. Another completely new story involves the experimental treatment for Parkinson's disease the famous photographer Margaret Bourke White pursued. Arthur Ashe's AIDS, Steve McQueen's cancer and Rita Hayworth's Alzheimers all take up chapters in this book, which is like all of Lerner's work, painstakingly researched and engagingly written. The celebrities in this book are fortunate to have someone of Lerner's skill and compassion tell the stories of their illness.

Powerful, Riveting Stories About Celebrity Illnesses
Dr. Lerner's book grabbed my attention right from the first pages about Lou Gehrig and lasted till the very last chapter. This is definitely not a book that should have a limited audience. I am not in the medical profession and was completely taken by Dr. Lerner's accounts of the histories of these public figures and their respective and varied illnesses. Although the book is written by a doctor, Dr. Lerner presents the facts in a completely unbiased manner, calling into question the conduct of all of the players in these stores - the doctors, the patients, their families, the press, the public, and more. Credit and criticism are given out as appropriate. The book reads seamlessly providing the reader with an incredible insight into the evolution of modern medicine and increased public access to the lives of the famous over the decades. Dr. Lerner is a brilliant writer and I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in history, medicine, media, pop culture or sports. I read the book on vacation and my 12 year old son and 15 year old daughter took turns reading portions of the book as well.