A Body Made of Glass
Audio only

A Body Made of Glass

A Cultural History of HypochondriaBy Caroline CramptonNarrated by Caroline Crampton
Length9h 23m

About this audiobook

Part cultural history, part literary criticism, and part memoir, A Body Made of Glass is a definitive biography of hypochondria. Caroline Crampton’s life was upended at the age of seventeen, when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a relatively rare blood cancer. After years of invasive treatment, she was finally given the all clear. But being cured of the cancer didn’t mean she felt well. Instead, the fear lingered, and she found herself always on the alert, braced for signs that the illness had reemerged.  Now, in A Body Made of Glass, Crampton has drawn from her own experiences with health anxiety to write a revelatory exploration of hypochondria—a condition that, though often suffered silently, is widespread and rising. She deftly weaves together history, memoir, and literary criticism to make sense of this invisible and underexplored sickness. From the earliest medical cases of Hippocrates to the literary accounts of sufferers like Virginia Woolf and Marcel Proust to the modern perils of internet self-diagnosis, Crampton unspools this topic to reveal the far-reaching impact of health anxiety on our physical, mental, and emotional health. At its heart, Crampton explains, hypochondria is a yearning for knowledge. It is a never-ending attempt to replace the edgeless terror of uncertainty with the comforting solidity of a definitive explanation. Through intimate personal stories and compelling cultural perspectives, A Body Made of Glass brings this uniquely ephemeral condition into much-needed focus for the first time.

Audiobook details

Rating★★★★ 3.9 (846)
Includes Goodreads, StoryGraph, Amazon, LibraryThing
GenreBiography and Memoir, Health and Wellness
Length9 hrs 23 mins
Narrated byCaroline Crampton
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateApr 23, 2024
LanguageEnglish
Send Me
Send MeMarty Skovlund, Joe Kent8h 10m4.7 (1.6K)$26 · $0.00
John Muir: The Story of My Boyhood and Youth & Letters to a Friend (Annotated)
John Muir: The Story of My Boyhood and Youth & Letters to a Friend (Annotated)John Muir10h 13m4.7 (1.1K)$1.99 · $0.00
Invisible Storm
Invisible StormJason Kander6h 48m4.7 (3.2K)$24 · $0.00
Forever Boy
Forever BoyKate Swenson9h 27m4.7 (5K)$29 · $0.00
You Are Worth It
You Are Worth ItKyle Carpenter, Don Yaeger8h 53m4.7 (4.8K)$29 · $0.00
The Happiest Man on Earth
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m4.6 (178K)$7 · $0.00
Motherland
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m4.7 (2.5K)$40 · $0.00
Evidence Not Seen
Evidence Not SeenDarlene Deibler Rose11h 11m4.6 (11.9K)$29 · $0.00
Where Cowards Go to Die
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m4.7 (351)$20 · $0.00
Will You Love Me?
Will You Love Me?Cathy Glass9h 5m4.6 (9.3K)$29 · $0.00
Designing Terry Pratchett’s Discworld
Designing Terry Pratchett’s DiscworldPaul Kidby3h 52m4.7 (343)$20 · $0.00
Hostage
HostageEli Sharabi5h 25m4.6 (10.8K)$24 · $0.00
Finding Me
Finding MeViola Davis9h 15m4.6 (256.4K)$29 · $0.00
The Dangerous Truth about Today’s Marijuana
The Dangerous Truth about Today’s MarijuanaLaura Stack CSP, MBA9h 57m4.7 (384)$20 · $0.00
Birdie & Harlow
Birdie & HarlowTaylor Wolfe7h 50m4.6 (6.5K)$26 · $0.00
The Lives of Brian
The Lives of BrianBrian Johnson9h 45m4.6 (3.5K)$29 · $0.00
I Am The Storm
I Am The StormJanice Dean9h4.6 (1.5K)$8 · $0.00
Black History Collection
Black History CollectionFrederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois27h 9m4.6 (2.6K)$18 · $0.00
Just as I Am
Just as I AmCicely Tyson16h 8m4.6 (99K)$33 · $0.00
Unbroken Bonds of Battle
Unbroken Bonds of BattleJohnny Joey Jones8h 31m4.6 (2.6K)$8 · $0.00
The Lost Voice
The Lost VoiceGreta Morgan8h 30m4.7 (285)$26 · $0.00
Healthy Kids, Happy Kids
Healthy Kids, Happy KidsElisa Song14h 18m4.6 (760)$33 · $0.00
Eat It!
Eat It!Jordan Syatt, Michael Vacanti4h 40m4.6 (1.5K)$20 · $0.00
Consent Laid Bare
Consent Laid BareChanel Contos7h 11m4.5 (1.7K)$24 · $0.00
How to Make Disease Disappear
How to Make Disease DisappearRangan Chatterjee5h 26m4.5 (3.5K)$24 · $0.00
The Complete Herbal (Annotated)
The Complete Herbal (Annotated)Nicholas Culpeper29h 8m4.5 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
A Plague Upon Our House
A Plague Upon Our HouseScott W. Atlas MD10h 37m4.5 (3.4K)$20 · $0.00
The Cancer Code
The Cancer CodeDr. Jason Fung10h 48m4.5 (5.3K)$29 · $0.00
The Gift of Therapy
The Gift of TherapyIrvin Yalom7h 39m4.5 (38.8K)$26 · $0.00
Early
EarlySarah DiGregorio9h 47m4.5 (1.3K)$29 · $0.00
Bottle of Lies
Bottle of LiesKatherine Eban14h 25m4.4 (12K)$33 · $0.00
The 36-Hour Day
The 36-Hour DayNancy L. Mace, Peter V. Rabins17h 13m4.4 (9.2K)$28 · $0.00
Floored
FlooredSara Reardon10h 36m4.5 (1K)$29 · $0.00
Radical Remission
Radical RemissionKelly A. Turner9h 26m4.4 (8.1K)$29 · $0.00
The Sinatra Solution
The Sinatra SolutionStephen T. Sinatra MD9h4.5 (899)$20 · $0.00
The Songaminute Man
The Songaminute ManSimon McDermott6h 12m4.5 (280)$24 · $0.00
Sometimes Brilliant
Sometimes BrilliantLarry Brilliant12h 27m4.5 (954)$29 · $0.00
Live Your Life
Live Your LifeAmanda Kloots, Anna Kloots10h 54m4.4 (13.7K)$29 · $0.00
All in Her Head
All in Her HeadElizabeth Comen13h 25m4.4 (18.2K)$33 · $0.00
The Wisdom of Your Body
The Wisdom of Your BodyHillary McBride9h 14m4.4 (6.7K)$29 · $0.00

You may also like

The Art of Thinking Clearly
The Art of Thinking ClearlyRolf Dobelli7h 49m3.9 (130K)$5 · $0.00
A Series of Lessons in Raja Yoga
A Series of Lessons in Raja YogaWilliam Walker Atkinson8h 53m4.1 (559)$2 · $0.00
Feeding the Mind
Feeding the MindLewis Carroll13m4.1 (620)$2.30 · $0.00
Creative Quest
Creative QuestQuestlove8h 44m4.2 (14.3K)$26 · $0.00
On the Improvement of the Understanding
On the Improvement of the UnderstandingBenedictus de Spinoza1m4.0 (1.1K)$2.30
Healthy Brain, Happy Life
Healthy Brain, Happy LifeWendy Suzuki, Billie Fitzpatrick9h 41m4.0 (2.5K)$29 · $0.00
The Inside Game
The Inside GameKeith Law8h 22m4.0 (1.9K)$26 · $0.00
The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer; Counsels and Maxims
The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer; Counsels and MaximsArthur Schopenhauer4h 53m4.2 (962)$2.30
Wait
WaitFrank Partnoy8h 47m3.7 (2.2K)$25 · $0.00
Suggestible You
Suggestible YouErik Vance9h 40m4.1 (1.9K)$20
The Physiology of Taste; Or, Transcendental Gastronomy
The Physiology of Taste; Or, Transcendental GastronomyBrillat-Savarin7h 42m4.2 (2.8K)$1 · $0.00
Head Strong
Head StrongDave Asprey10h 41m3.9 (4.7K)$29 · $0.00
Brain Body Diet
Brain Body DietSara Szal Gottfried10h 48m3.9 (1.1K)$29 · $0.00
Shortcuts to Meditation
Shortcuts to MeditationJohn Records36m5.0 (13)Free
The Benediction of Meditation
The Benediction of MeditationJiddu Krishnamurti1h 7m4.6 (36)$4 · $0.00
Is thought detrimental?
Is thought detrimental?Jiddu Krishnamurti1h4.4 (23)$4 · $0.00
Madras (Chennai) 1977 78 - Public Talk 3 - What place has knowledge in correct action?
Madras (Chennai) 1977 78 - Public Talk 3 - What place has knowledge in correct action?J. Krishnamurti1h 20m$6 · $0.00
Brockwood Park 1975 - Public Talk 2 - Can suffering end totally?
Brockwood Park 1975 - Public Talk 2 - Can suffering end totally?J. Krishnamurti1h 17m$6 · $0.00
Your Mind and How to Use It
Your Mind and How to Use ItWilliam Walker Atkinson5h 51m3.9 (327)$2 · $0.00
The Curiosity Muscle
The Curiosity MuscleMark Adamar5h 34m$6 · $0.00