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From The Inside Out: The IBD Diaries
From The Inside Out: The IBD Diaries, follows the true story of a boy who fell ill at 14 and his battle for over a decade to try and get a diagnosis. Having to juggle all the while an ongoing fight with the government, depression, and love. Interweaving this narrative are true account diary entries from several other survivors of Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease, as well as several poetry entries. Hear what a day in the life is like for someone suffering the invisible illness, and garner a new perspective on such an unknown but prevailant affliction. Written in coalition with the #GetYourBellyOut group, 50% of all royalties made from this book purchase will be donated into research into the disease and possible cure.
156 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 5, 2014
1 person is currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Matthew Williamson
21 books23 followersA face for radio, and voice for the written word is basically how I stumbled into this writing lark and I'll never stop feeling lucky for it.
Forever having at least two projects on the backburner keeping me occupied, at least in theory. The reality is that I am as much a sucker for the trappings of the internet as the next victim.
Forever having at least two projects on the backburner keeping me occupied, at least in theory. The reality is that I am as much a sucker for the trappings of the internet as the next victim.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 29, 2016
After reading this, I think it's definitely more aimed to support those already suffering with various IBD conditions rather than informing people who have no experience of them. The medical terms and jargon weren't always explained and I didn't even know what IBD actually stood for until near the end of the book (it's Inflammatory Bowel Disease, btw). The #GetYourBellyOut page and what that page actually is was also not mentioned in great detail until the end of the book, which was a shame as they seem to be doing very worthwhile work.
Some kind of introduction would have been helpful to outsiders, giving an overview of the conditions and maybe a small glossary with the most common terms. It also might have been an idea to introduce the book itself i.e. that it would take the form of Matthew Williamson's story interspersed with blog posts/poems from other sufferers, as well as saying how the book came about.
The blog posts included were obviously copied exactly as they appeared online, so of course there was text speak and some typos. Although not too distracting, they could have been tidied up a bit to make them easier to read whilst still retaining the essence of what was being said.
Though this was enlightening for me and certainly put my own problems into perspective, the book felt overall like a bit of a wasted opportunity. I appreciate that this wasn't supposed to be an autobiography, but I ask myself "why not?"
Matthew obviously has a tale to tell, but much of the major incidents that shaped him (a friend's suicide, his own struggle with depression, etc) were glossed over or rushed. I would have been interested to know the back story a bit more; about the personality of the author, his life, what he's been through and how it's affected him. I think if you're going to tell the story you might as well tell the whole story.
That's not to say Matthew's personality didn't come through at all. His sections, although they could also use some spelling/grammar checking, were peppered with amusing phrases (kidney beans tasting like a felt door stopper for example) that made me smile.
I can't speak for how a sufferer would feel after reading the book, but I imagine it would be a comfort to know other sufferers are out there. For me, it shed light on a subject I previously knew nothing about. It just would have been nice if there was a bit more of it.
Some kind of introduction would have been helpful to outsiders, giving an overview of the conditions and maybe a small glossary with the most common terms. It also might have been an idea to introduce the book itself i.e. that it would take the form of Matthew Williamson's story interspersed with blog posts/poems from other sufferers, as well as saying how the book came about.
The blog posts included were obviously copied exactly as they appeared online, so of course there was text speak and some typos. Although not too distracting, they could have been tidied up a bit to make them easier to read whilst still retaining the essence of what was being said.
Though this was enlightening for me and certainly put my own problems into perspective, the book felt overall like a bit of a wasted opportunity. I appreciate that this wasn't supposed to be an autobiography, but I ask myself "why not?"
Matthew obviously has a tale to tell, but much of the major incidents that shaped him (a friend's suicide, his own struggle with depression, etc) were glossed over or rushed. I would have been interested to know the back story a bit more; about the personality of the author, his life, what he's been through and how it's affected him. I think if you're going to tell the story you might as well tell the whole story.
That's not to say Matthew's personality didn't come through at all. His sections, although they could also use some spelling/grammar checking, were peppered with amusing phrases (kidney beans tasting like a felt door stopper for example) that made me smile.
I can't speak for how a sufferer would feel after reading the book, but I imagine it would be a comfort to know other sufferers are out there. For me, it shed light on a subject I previously knew nothing about. It just would have been nice if there was a bit more of it.
March 18, 2015
Beautiful book by a beautiful man telling his beautiful story. A definite read.
November 9, 2014
Okay so I fought the decision to review this for a while now, being the writer felt too much of a bias. But the book does feature other contributions, and I feel I do have some things to say objectively as a whole, so here it goes.
The structure of the book is very fractured with one central narrative, broken up with each chapter with diary-entry style blogs from other writers. Each of whom are sufferers of Crohns disease of Ulcerative Colitis.
Although I think it compliments the story nicely and the theme of the diary entries works well enough, it can get a little unbalance to read just as it goes with some entries were structured in a more freeflowing format and typos that marr it a little. This is particularly notable in the first blog, which gets the unfortunate scrutiny of being the first time the book switches style entirely, and due to its structure was largely presented as one long text, not broken up as a story (and indeed the rest of the book) is.
This I feel is a distraction, however when read as one person's story at a time, it flows alot easier.
Overall, I am very proud of the book and the feedback I have had on how it has affected people and their relationships with others. Not to mention the donations to CCUK from the royalties. But doesn't mean can't see some of the flaws still poke through.
If you care to hear a more nonbiased opinion, there have been a couple of blogs such as this one http://sahara88uk.blogspot.co.uk/2014... which reviewed it, not to mention amazon.
But feel free to discuss anything with me good or bad. Or if you think I'm a really egotistical ass for even critiquing my own release!
The structure of the book is very fractured with one central narrative, broken up with each chapter with diary-entry style blogs from other writers. Each of whom are sufferers of Crohns disease of Ulcerative Colitis.
Although I think it compliments the story nicely and the theme of the diary entries works well enough, it can get a little unbalance to read just as it goes with some entries were structured in a more freeflowing format and typos that marr it a little. This is particularly notable in the first blog, which gets the unfortunate scrutiny of being the first time the book switches style entirely, and due to its structure was largely presented as one long text, not broken up as a story (and indeed the rest of the book) is.
This I feel is a distraction, however when read as one person's story at a time, it flows alot easier.
Overall, I am very proud of the book and the feedback I have had on how it has affected people and their relationships with others. Not to mention the donations to CCUK from the royalties. But doesn't mean can't see some of the flaws still poke through.
If you care to hear a more nonbiased opinion, there have been a couple of blogs such as this one http://sahara88uk.blogspot.co.uk/2014... which reviewed it, not to mention amazon.
But feel free to discuss anything with me good or bad. Or if you think I'm a really egotistical ass for even critiquing my own release!
June 23, 2017
Loved this book and found it very relatable. It helps being reminded I'm not the only one suffering from IBD. I would recommend this book to family and friends who might be interested in IBD and maybe some of the disadvantages that people with IBD have to deal with.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews