The Empathy Exams in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Jun 29, 2014 Caroline Donahue rated it it was amazing

A total knockout. Made me both thrilled as a reader and terrified as a writer. So very well done that it is nearly effortless- the kind of effortless that if feels impossible to come close to. The woman can write. And not only write, but think and question the world in a way that made me want to look closer at everything around me. It's the sort of book you'll want to read more than once- be careful who you lend it to, because you're going to want this one back. ...more

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Jun 24, 2015 gwen g rated it really liked it

These blend the personal and not-personal in a way I find totally, completely compelling. I love that Jamison plays with the concept of journalistic distance, the concept of emotional tourism, the concept of empathy itself.

Not every essay spoke to me perfectly, but overall, I found them incredibly compelling -- particularly the second one about Morgellan's disease, and the one about going on a bus tour of Mexican drug towns.

Complex, memorable, would recommend. ...more

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Mar 02, 2014 A. V. rated it it was amazing

Building on previous tropes, conversations and representations this collection explores what it means to be a feeling human. Instead of trapping us as victims, or dismissing people as melodramatic, it claims those possible interpretations and then broadens the narrative--simultaneously acknowledging the reality of suffering while moving forward with this truth strapped to its back. It allows us all room for a more complex relationship with our own pain and for the pain of others. An engaging jou ...more

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