WHAT'S WRONG?

Williams examines the disparities in the American health care system and what it means to experience chronic pain through thoughtful prose and affecting illustrations.

The author reports that 20% of Americans suffer from chronic pain. She is one of them, and her pain lies at the intersection of trauma, alcoholism, ulcers, heartburn, and more. Despite the endless doctors’ appointments and prescriptions, “I still live without meaningful relief or medical consensus.” Sadly, this experience is common for many of the 50 million Americans who deal with chronic pain. Williams also shows how women, transgender individuals, and people of color suffer disproportionately from the failings of health care professionals. Navigating a system built for white, cisgender men, many other demographics find that their symptoms are confounding or outright dismissed by doctors. Through four case studies and accounts from her many frustrating experiences, Williams applies personal narratives to the statistics, exploring the intersectionality of pain and its mental, physical, and emotional toll. With her prior experience working in oncology, she’s able to view medicine from the perspective of both patient and practitioner. Her empathetic storytelling delivers far more complexity and nuance than a medical diagnosis would offer. Importantly, there’s hope to be found here. In addition to providing an essential recording of suffering, Williams delivers a call to action. With compelling prose accompanied by gorgeous illustrations, she shows us that “art has as much to tell us about illness as medicine does. Pain, like art, isn’t fixed, passive, or inert.” The colorful illustrations are testament to the care that’s required in healing. Medicine is part of that care, but only one part. Care requires more than just clinical evaluations, she writes; it “requires that trauma, whether personal, intergenerational or systemic, is addressed.”

A passionate, memorably presented manifesto for healing.