Audio only
American Breakdown
Our Ailing Nation, My Body’s Revolt, and the Nineteenth-Century Woman Who Brought Me Back to LifeBy Jennifer LundenNarrated by Anna CaputoLength12h 46m
About this audiobook
A Silent Spring for the human body, this wide-ranging, genre-crossing literary mystery interweaves the author’s quest to understand the source of her own condition with her telling of the story of the chronically ill 19th-century diarist Alice James—ultimately uncovering the many hidden health hazards of life in America.
When Jennifer Lunden became chronically ill after moving from Canada to Maine, her case was a medical mystery. Just 21, unable to hold a book or stand for a shower, she lost her job and consigned herself to her bed. The doctor she went to for help told her she was “just depressed.”
After suffering from this enigmatic illness for five years, she discovered an unlikely source of hope and healing: a biography of Alice James, the bright, witty, and often bedridden sibling of brothers Henry James, the novelist, and William James, the father of psychology. Alice suffered from a life-shattering illness known as neurasthenia, now often dismissed as a “fashionable illness.”
In this meticulously researched and illuminating debut, Lunden interweaves her own experience with Alice’s, exploring the history of medicine and the effects of the industrial revolution and late-stage capitalism to tell a riveting story of how we are a nation struggling—and failing—to be healthy.
Although science—and the politics behind its funding—has in many ways let Lunden and millions like her down, in the end science offers a revelation that will change how readers think about the ecosystems of their bodies, their communities, the country, and the planet.
Audiobook details
GenreBiography and Memoir, Health and Wellness
Length12 hrs 46 mins
Narrated byAnna Caputo
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateMay 9, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Matters of the HeartJacinta Nampijinpa Price9h 35m$29 · $0.00
How to Test Negative for StupidJohn Kennedy8h 13m$28 · $0.00
Defying JihadEsther Ahmad8h 50m$20
Bad Fat Black GirlSesali Bowen6h 32m$24 · $0.00
Frederick Douglass: All 3 Memoirs in One VolumeFrederick Douglass42h 36m$1 · $0.00
Send MeMarty Skovlund, Joe Kent8h 10m$26 · $0.00
Ulysses S. Grant: Life of the Fearless General & Commander-in-Chief (Complete Edition - Volumes 1&2)Ulysses S. Grant30h 34m$2 · $0.00
Left for DeadEbony Canion5h 34m$17
Invisible StormJason Kander6h 48m$24 · $0.00
Forever BoyKate Swenson9h 27m$29 · $0.00
You Are Worth ItKyle Carpenter, Don Yaeger8h 53m$29 · $0.00
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m$40 · $0.00
Evidence Not SeenDarlene Deibler Rose11h 11m$29 · $0.00
A Bridge Not Too FarDeepak Ohri4h 55m$15
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m$20 · $0.00
Will You Love Me?Cathy Glass9h 5m$29 · $0.00
Designing Terry Pratchett’s DiscworldPaul Kidby3h 52m$20 · $0.00
HostageEli Sharabi5h 25m5.0 (1)$24 · $0.00
A Narrative of Some of the Lord's Dealings With George Müller (The Complete Four-Volume Edition)George Müller43h 37m$2 · $0.00
The Dangerous Truth about Today’s MarijuanaLaura Stack CSP, MBA9h 57m5.0 (1)$20 · $0.00
Bruno GröningWivvica21m$10 · $0.00
Vax FactsPaul Thomas MD, Deedee Hoover10h 26m$25
Hour of the HeartIrvin D. Yalom, Benjamin Yalom8h 19m5.0 (1)$26 · $0.00
The Yoga Sutras of PatanjaliPatanjali4h 8m$6 · $0.00
The Lost VoiceGreta Morgan8h 30m$26 · $0.00
Healthy Kids, Happy KidsElisa Song14h 18m$33 · $0.00
Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book, 5th EditionSusan M. Love MD19h 37m$32
Eat It!Jordan Syatt, Michael Vacanti4h 40m$20 · $0.00
Sun & SsukgatMichelle Jungmin Bang6h 28m$24 · $0.00
Choosing To StayMo Haque4h 13m$16 · $0.00
Consent Laid BareChanel Contos7h 11m$24 · $0.00
Fit God's WayKim Dolan Leto7h$17
How to Make Disease DisappearRangan Chatterjee5h 26m$24 · $0.00
The Complete Herbal (Annotated)Nicholas Culpeper29h 8m$2 · $0.00
A Plague Upon Our HouseScott W. Atlas MD10h 37m$20 · $0.00
The Cancer CodeDr. Jason Fung10h 48m$29 · $0.00
The Gift of TherapyIrvin Yalom7h 39m5.0 (1)$26 · $0.00
EarlySarah DiGregorio9h 47m$29 · $0.00
Saving Social CareNeil Eastwood4h 54m$18 · $0.00
You may also like
Times of Crisis Are Times for Individual RevolutionOSHO1h 25m1.0 (1)$6 · $0.00
Our Best WorkNilofer Merchant12h 29m$29 · $0.00
The Likeability TrapAlicia Menendez6h 47m$24 · $0.00
A LETTER TO A HINDU (A Fascinating View on Love and Non-Violence) (Annotated)Leo Tolstoy, M. K. Gandhi3h 46m$2 · $0.00
The HeadacheTom Zeller Jr.10h 18m$29 · $0.00
The Theological Works of Leo TolstoyLeo Tolstoy47h 34m$1 · $0.00
Republican Like MeKen Stern7h 52m$26 · $0.00
The Ordinary VirtuesMichael Ignatieff7h 39m$20 · $0.00
The Constitution of KnowledgeJonathan Rauch12h 23m$23 · $0.00
You Are in Prison and You Think You Are FreeOSHO1h 40m$6 · $0.00
This One Wild and Precious LifeSarah Wilson13h 46m$33 · $0.00
My Disillusionment in RussiaEmma Goldman5h 38m$2.30
What Shall We Do?Leo graf Tolstoy11h 50m$2 · $0.00
Empathy in Politics and LeadershipClaire Yorke12h 14m$25
Let-Go for WorkaholicsOSHO1h 26m$6 · $0.00
Obiter Dicta: Second SeriesAugustine Birrell4h 2m$2 · $0.00
The Three Cities Trilogy: Rome, CompleteÉmile Zola21h$1 · $0.00
Transforming LeadershipJames MacGregor Burns10h 31m$21 · $0.00
Moral InjuriesMichael Valdovinos7h 44m$24 · $0.00
"The Kingdom of God Is Within You"Leo graf Tolstoy15h 8m$2 · $0.00