Loved this book. Ehrenreich, unsurprisingly, does a great job at breaking down our wellness, positivity, and death-evading culture and how it actually does us all a great disservice.

Wow, I have never DNF'd a book so quickly... I couldn't force myself to read past 7%.

Based on the title and description, I thought the topics would be right up my alley. However, instead of a well-researched exposé of American medicine and media driven ideals of wellness, I found myself slogging through a self-induldgent, biased rant about the supposed perils of preventative medicine. The irony is not lost on me that the author is a cancer survivor railing against basic screenings that are intended to aid in early diagnosis of cancer. Nor was it any less ironic that the author brags several times in the opening chapter about having health insurance, yet fighting against any of her doctors' recommended tests. For what reasoning? Oh we are all going to die anyway, so why try to optimize our health at all? The story of the author setting an appointment with her doctor with the sole purpose of telling him why she is not going to do any of the recommended screenings is not heroic... it's absolutely arrogant, not to mention a complete waste of time for that poor provider. Also, comparing colonoscopies to rape is ludicrous, as is the idea that if you can't feel something going wrong in your body, it must not be important to detect. This is also ironic coming from an author who supposedly has a PhD in cell biology. It is entirely baffling to me. What is the goal here? To drive people to distrust and completely avoid healthcare at all costs until a serious medical emergency occurs? The snark, sarcasm, and blatant bias in just the opening chapter of this book was suffocating.

Would I recommend this book? That would be an emphatic no.

i did not finish this book but i am grateful for the opportunity netgalley has provided me! thank you!

“Natural Causes” is a breath of fresh air. The cover is fantastic and you will discover that inside the covers, Barbara Ehrenreich’s wry, witty and wide-open writing will entertain you and educate you. However, it won’t change the fact that you will die.

The author gives us lots to ponder, and I suggest you read the reviews that are posted about this book-they are as thoughtful, questioning and funny as the book itself. Each chapter is more like an essay, and you will get to consider: how many medical tests and examinations should I endure, does positive thinking help our health, does stress hurt us, how important is diet and exercise, and what’s up with our immune system???

Barbara Ehreneich has a Ph.D in cell biology. She says she loves science- and it seems she does. She also likes to shake things up, so enjoy this book, consider reading more of her works, and have a great day! Do what you want!

Thanks to NetGalley for a review copy. This is my honest review.

This is an interesting book, but I found its main theses to ultimately be non-persuasive.

Ehrenreich's main point is that we are too reliant on medical consensus. She then bolsters the arguments using evidence from many different fields, including science, philosophy and anthropology. In glancing at the list of cited sources in the back, there were a lot of sources that I found to be non-persuasive. One example is a blog that only publishes anti-pap smear articles. It seemed to me that by including these types of sources, there wasn't anything out there of higher quality that Ehrenreich could point to as evidence.

The book is extremely well-written. I'm a huge fan of Nickel and Dimed. I think ethnographies like that book and social science topics are where Ehrenreich truly shines. In this book, she reduced hard science down to a level where it was bound to lose nuance and become somewhat misleading. She's not doing this in a malicious way; it would just take laypersons way too into the weeds to explain what the actual science says.

I recommended this book to my sister, who has a similar suspicion of organized medicine. I think medical skeptics will love this book. But, then again, they're always looking for materials to reinforce their existing views.

I REALLY enjoyed reading this book. I think the author has excellent insight and does a wonderful job of researching her topics.

I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley for review and all thoughts and opinions are own.
I found the book interesting and somewhat humorous but not one I would purchase for my home library. Information was well researched and uniquely presented with a healthy dose of opinion added on. Will be of particular interest for readers of her prior book Nickel and Dimed, which I did enjoy.

In NATURAL CAUSES, Barbara Ehrenreich shares her "science appreciator" perspective on the paradoxical, overwrought health care system -- from the practitioners and researchers to the well-meaning people around us on to our individual experiences. I cheered throughout the book for a writer who has eloquently and convincingly expressed the ultimate decisions surrounding who is in charge -- and what are you supposed to do about it. My mind is now free of the guilt and I am better able to decide for myself what works and what does not and what I want to learn more about. This book is an eye-opening, wise, and transformational read -- and I appreciate the opportunity to offer my unbiased review with the gift of a reader copy from NetGalley and the publisher.

An honest, on point book that walks you through the curious case of pharma, food, and health-care working into their own pocket rather than for humanity as a whole.
With poise and panache, Ms. Ehrenreich paints a clear, straightforward picture of values and hamster wheels.
Congratulations on an inspiring and important book!

Always evocative Ehrenreic. The author brings into question and explores our current health care system. Detailed and questioning using personal experience. Another win!

I loved Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed, so I was eager to read this. I thought it was really interesting to be reading this during COVID-19. But it hasn't really stuck with me, so I didn't find anything that memorable. Good, but not great.

Some excellent points and some nonsense. Mostly there's an unexpected level of credulity about weird stuff, and some strange places where she seems to miss the point entirely.

Not up to the standards she has set with Nickled and Dimed, but not a waste, eitheR

It was interesting to read about the description of the (shift to) individual responsibility in health, and also about increasing absorption with the self in the Western world. The latter idea was tied together with nonhuman agency, even if contemporary scientific arguments for cellular decision making are lacking. The book finishes with some thoughts on how to better accept personal death and imagine a world without "me" in it. All in all, it touches on several different topics, without going too deep into any of them.

Having read Nickel and Dimed, I was anxious to dive right into this book.
The author starts the book by talking about macrophanges and how they will just turn on a body.
She goes on to write about her experience with breast cancer, and unnecessary screenings.
I was thoroughly enjoying myself reading this part. I have often felt that some medical screenings are unnecessary.
Then things broke down.

It felt that the author just wandered around a track and into the woods, found a Target store and began to wander the aisles.
The author went on to talk about what should be classified as cells, the cult of self, what is a society, animals, menstruation, diets, gods, and religion.
It was very odd, disjointed, and lacking direction.

Overall, I would say, read the first 35% of the book and then close it. No need to read further.

I honestly can't say that I found anything to be that useful....yet I enjoyed over 30% of the book.

In the end, not her best work.

Advance copy provided by NetGalley-- DNF

So this book has been on my shelf for quite some time, and moving along in Nancy Pearl's fashion, it couldn't keep my interest. I mean, it is interesting, but I kept moving it to the back of my pile.

I do look forward to reading this book more in depth sometime this year. I am giving it a 3 at the moment, but will get around to reading it (I hope!) during christmas break.

"Your body pays attention to you. You are important to it! If you've spent a whole lot of time ignoring how you feel, just bulldozing along - your body has probably decided you're not interested in "listening" to these lines of communication. It hits the mute button. That's OK, you can turn the volume back up."
With writing like this, I finished the book in one sitting. I know some of the information went over my head since I don't have a degree in science/biology. I would consider re-reading this book in the future, for I know I missed some parts that would be helpful to me.

This book is heavy. It gets into a lot of technical things, some of which I didn't care about and other things I didn't know I was interested in. Clearly the author has put a lot of time and effort into researching and this pile of information has been put together in a comprehensive way. Not a light read, but if you still with it you will walk away having learned a thing or two and questioning much.

This book is a must-read. It's no secret that our medical system (worldwide) is suffering. The reasons are multi-factorial: our body (cells), our food, our don't-care attitude and desire to become immortals. The author illuminates some connection between the food and a cancer, sharing the latests research and her own ideas, giving a lot of examples and latests info from the different books/doctors/celebs.
Cons: A little bit negative mood, but maybe she is right, because health is a wealth and it is time for an action...don't wait until it is too late.

I was very excited to get approved for this book as I've heard great things about her previous work, "Nickel and Dimed", however I was sadly let down. This book seemed disjointed and didn't have a focus. It jumped around and while some good points were made, none of it was backed up with factual evidence. It seemed to be a collection of anecdotes while I enjoyed parts of it I felt myself wanting more.

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

I have been a devotee of Barbara Ehrenreich since I first read Nickel and Dimed and this book does not disappoint.