The good news is Jennifer Traig does not have lupus, multiple sclerosis, Huntington’s Disease, Crohn’s Disease or muscular dystrophy. She discovers that she does not have SUDS, the mysterious disorder that claims healthy young Asian men in their sleep, nor does she have Foreign Accent Syndrome, the bizarre but real neurological condition that transforms native West Virginians into Eliza Doolittle overnight. What she does have is hypochondria.
She launches an inquiry into her ailment, and the result is not only an uproariously funny account of her personal experience, but also a literary tour of hypochondria past and present: the implied hypochondria of the Talmud, the flatulence-obsessed eighteenth century, and the malady’s unfortunate current lack of a celebrity spokesperson.
Well Enough Alone is the definitive book on being worried well, in all of its gruesome and hysterical detail, from one of our funniest and most distinctive literary voices.
