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Rating: 
Summary: Demystifing and comforting
Review: "The Truth About..." makes clear how many live in pain and just how pervasive the matter is. In short, Rosenfeld's work clearly and concisely explains the issues while demystifying a series of complex problems.While there are many philosophical and religious dimensions involved, it's equally amazing to hear how so many personal and divergent points of view all lead to the same bottom line: that none of us should ever have to suffer because of someone's hang-up about prescription drugs or about pain as a character builder. If "The Truth..." does nothing else but shed light while comforting those who suffer in the dark without knowledge, then undoubtedly hundred of thousands, or perhaps even millions of untold sufferers will be better for it.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful and Controversial
Review: I found the book incredibly insighful and inspiring. The interview format revealed thoughful answers to provacative questions. I feel better informed and now better prepared to approach the topic with my caregiver in order to find an answer to my own chronic pain. I highly reccomend this book to everyone...pain sufferer or not. The ideas and insight and personal stories are mind expanding and important!
Rating:
Summary: should be required reading in med. school
Review: I wish every doctor, psychiatrist and psychologist would read this amazing work. It should be a required text for medical school students. It is a painfully honest account of the medical profession and society's view of the chronic pain patient. Arthur and Isodore seem to have entered my mind and viewed the world as I see it.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but not useful
Review: If you're looking for useful advice in dealing with pain this is not the book for you. This is the first reading I've done on this subject, and I was hoping for some practical advice and specific pain-coping strategies rather than a lot of talk about why chronic pain is generally undertreated by the medical profession. I read this book and I still don't know what to do about my pain.
Rating:
Summary: 36 Conversations Create a Mosaic of Chronic Pain
Review: In this book, Rosenfeld visits 36 people - famous and not - and engages them in conversations which explore every aspect of chronic pain. Divided into patients, caregivers and thinkers (with some overlapping), the three sections of the book (when combined with Rosenfeld's linking commentary) create a mosaic which is comprehensive, yet always facinating. The author unerringly asks the very follow-up questions the reader would like to have answered. These are genuine conversations, not a collection of responses to pre-programmed questions. For those concerned about loved ones suffering from chronic pain, the insights, the information, the list of resources and the book's glossary are invaluable.
Rating:
Summary: Understanding the World of Pain
Review: Insightful, Inspiring, Important. Whether or not you suffer from chronic pain, this book is a must read and it is truly accessible to a very wide audience. As we don't yet have a cure to offer those who suffer, understanding the pain will have to do. Mr. Rosenfeld's book is the ultimate handbook for this daunting task. After dividing the book into 3 parts, patients (that's me), caregivers and thinkers, it was amazing to see how many common threads there were. I found myself, highlighter in hand, saying, "yes, that's it", or "he got it", or "she shed thought provoking new light". This book belongs in the hands of medical students and parctitioners as well as the general public. The author has succeeded in making this a page-turner.
Rating:
Summary: Understanding the World of Pain
Review: Insightful, Inspiring, Important. Whether or not you suffer from chronic pain, this book is a must read and it is truly accessible to a very wide audience. As we don't yet have a cure to offer those who suffer, understanding the pain will have to do. Mr. Rosenfeld's book is the ultimate handbook for this daunting task. After dividing the book into 3 parts, patients (that's me), caregivers and thinkers, it was amazing to see how many common threads there were. I found myself, highlighter in hand, saying, "yes, that's it", or "he got it", or "she shed thought provoking new light". This book belongs in the hands of medical students and parctitioners as well as the general public. The author has succeeded in making this a page-turner.
Rating:
Summary: The Truth About Chronic Pain by Rosenfeld
Review: This work documents specific instances of how people get into
chronic pain cycles and the actions required to manage
these conditions over the long term. There are many important
interviews with both patients and physicians which document
typical experiences and valuable corrective steps to combat
pain on an ongoing basis. This work would be a valuable
addition to any personal medical library.
Rating:
Summary: Telling but Lacking
Review: While the book does explore the personal experiences of those suffering in pain adeptly, the author and contributors fail to include many sides of this complex issue of the way pain in our society is viewed and why it is so. I would say there is a limited scope at best. The book assumes for instance that addiction is a separate disease when in fact many patients in pain have co existing addiction problems past or present which clouds the issues inherent in prescribing opiates obviously. Further, there is growing acceptance currently for the theory that "disease" is a term applied to addiction too freely, apparently a trend not limited to outside of this book. Also I note a glaring lack of references. I recall seeing similar discourse and material discussed in several separate magazine articles and web blogs unrelated to this author, pre dating the publishing of this book. Not all original premises but certainly a valiant attempt to have an all inclusive resource.
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