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73
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
51/100Critics
77/100Scholars
90/100Author:
Meghan O'Rourke
Publisher:
Riverhead Books
Date:
March 1, 2022
A silent epidemic of chronic illnesses afflicts tens of millions of Americans: these are diseases that are poorly understood, frequently marginalized, and can go undiagnosed and unrecognized altogether. O'Rourke investigates this elusive category of 'invisible' illness that encompasses autoimmune diseases, post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, and now long-COVID, synthesizing the personal and the universal to help all of us through this new frontier.
What The Reviewers Say
O’Rourke boldly investigates the origin of her ills and possible cures. More crucially, she probes the cultural, psychological, and medical experiences of people with poorly understood or immune-mediated illnesses.
... a profound, sometimes lyrical, deeply moving portrayal of a vague constellation of illnesses.
The Invisible Kingdom is thus not a straightforward accountcharting the usual stages fromdisease onset to medical intervention to ultimate recovery—the hallmarks of many illness narratives.
At times, I wondered if [O'Rourke] ought to have assembled her story into such a clear, cohesive form; why not mimic the density and swirl of a decade spent in clueless flu-like miasma? O’Rourke is a devoted chronicler of each month spent in her corporeal purgatory, listing each new symptom and reliving every ache. I craved more mess, less linearity. But then again, who needs that? Sick people are befuddled enough and well people don’t need any more reasons to ignore them.
