Fracture: Adventures of a broken body

by Ann Oakley

The starting point of Ann Oakley's fascinating book is the fracture of her right arm in the grounds of a hotel in the USA. What begins as an accident becomes a journey into some critical themes of modern Western the crisis of embodiment and the perfect self; the confusion between body and identity; the commodification of bodies and body parts; the intrusive surveillance and profiteering of medicine and the law; the problem of ageing; and the identification of women, particularly, with bodies - from the intensely ambiguous two-in-one state of pregnancy to women's later transformation into unproductive, brittle skeletons."Fracture" mixes personal experience (the author's and other people's) with 'facts' derived from other literatures, including the history of medicine, neurology, the sociology of health and illness, philosophy, and legal discourses on the right to life and people as victims of a greedy litigation system. The book's genre spans fiction/non-fiction, autobiography and social theory.

Genres: Nonfiction

186 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Anil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having broken one arm years ago, Fracture was certainly an interesting read. However, the author was not as lucky as I was, and she lost sensitivity of her right hand after the accident. Her broken bones heal, but there is void instead of her hand despite limb's being there.

Oakley does not only narrate the story of her numb-feeling hand and her legal and medical struggles. She also analyses what those struggles mean, why they create problems or increase intensity of the existing problems, what the sources of these struggles and what they mean for a woman, especially an aging woman. Thus, she adds feminist bits into her analyses.

Avoiding to use jargon heavily, in fact she uses them when she cannot help so, Oakley uses a simple language which increases effectiveness of the messages she wishes to give.

All in all, Fracture is an interesting book and it is the one if you like reading autobiographies related to an illness, which is narrated thorough an intensive acamedicc reseac.

[Sarah Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

An original account of how we are connected to our bodies.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting account of the psychological side of physical injury. Oakley discusses her fracture and all of its aspects: how the medical industry works; the contemporary culture of insurance/suing; innovative ways of repairing nerve damage; and how the bodies of women are viewed (and capitalised upon) by society and the medical world.

She goes on about the law suit a little too much but other than that, an interesting read.

[Lisa Appleyard-keeling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and thoughtful account of the internal, and external changes that coincide with the physical change of 'damage' to the body. Have recommended this to several people, and will continue to do so! Oakley manages to weave some of her theoretical knowledge in, and still make this a readable and personal account...maybe I should have given it 5 stars? Student looking at corporeality, dis/ability, critical perspectives on medicalisation, sociology maybe? Then read this for pleasure.