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family members who are aging, or criticism here, it is important to con- Much of the latter part of Natural Causes
those of us who might one day die. sider how often we blame poor health focuses on our growing understand-
But Ehrenreich’s style is thoroughly on people (consider commonplace ing of immunity and cellular biology.
critical: for anyone who is deeply com- social proscriptions against smoking, While research scientists might grum-
mitted to the omnipotence of science drinking—did you read that recent ble at Ehrenreich’s simplification of
and medicine, or even the absolute study of how any alcohol is bad for complex biological processes, laypeople
1
power of mindfulness, positivity, and you? —and a sedentary lifestyle. We might grumble at her facility with
the primacy of the self, you might find are often presumed guilty, or at least scientific terminology and focus on
yourself defensive in a few places as she complicit, in our own illnesses). microscopic life. But it is her explana-
takes aim at socially accepted truisms. tions of cellular behavior (and a final
look at the historical growth of a
concept of “self”) that round out the
Looking further into current and book and emphasize her argument

ongoing research, she learned that we should live our lives “to die
into the actual world, which seethes
that there is growing awareness with life, with agency other than
our own, and, at the very least, with
of “cellular decision making” and endless possibility” (208).

that “the natural world, as we are For me, the richest parts of Ehrenreich’s
work are those that meld her personal
coming to understand it, pulses experience and acerbic wit with social
and scientific research. Unfortunately,
with something like ‘life.’” in several places, the book strays from
these. But regardless of whether we
agree or disagree with her interpreta-
tions and use of research, Natural Causes
raises interesting ideas of selfhood,
Her early chapters examine humiliating Given a tendency to assign simple cau- health, and the absolute certainty
and sometimes even assault-like reali- sality for illness, wellness culture fills of dying.
ties of medical procedures (for anyone a large void. Fitness guides and Silicon
who has ever experienced a pelvic exam Valley tech gurus have all monetized
or mammogram, you know exactly the realm of living well, living long,
what she is talking about here). They and controlling our bodies to fight
also detail how medicine has, histori- death. “Conflict may be endemic to
cally, been rooted not in evidence but, the human world, with all its jagged
rather in authority and ritual, a fault not inequalities, but it must be abolished
simply of the medical system but also of within the individual” (111). Though
patients who expect certain procedures the list of well-known fitness or tech
and tests (even when unnecessary). giants felled by illness in their middle
age is significant (Steve Jobs, Apple
Ehrenreich then explores the enormous Norma Anderson is Associate Professor in
commodification and inequalities of founder, Jerome Rodale, founder of the Department of Sociology.
health, wellness, and mindfulness, Prevention magazine, and numerous
considering gym culture, simplified others) longevity and holistic health
meditation rituals (those two-minute have become middle and upper-class
mindfulness apps on your phone), the pursuits, further marginalizing those
rise of various fad diets and pills, and who don’t have the time, money, or
companies’ investment in “wellness” even ability, at the end of working
for their employees. To be open to her multiple shifts, to devote themselves
to wellness.

1 https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31310-2/fulltext#seccestitle70

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