Flesh And Blood: A History Of My Family In Seven Maladies

Author: Stephen McGann

Stock information

General Fields

  • : $39.99 AUD
  • : 9781471160790
  • : Simon & Schuster, Limited
  • : Simon & Schuster, Limited
  • :
  • :
  • : July 2017
  • : 234mm X 153mm
  • : United Kingdom
  • : September 2017
  • :
  • :
  • : books

Special Fields

  • :
  • :
  • : Stephen McGann
  • :
  • : Hardback
  • : 817
  • :
  • : en
  • : 306.461092241
  • :
  • :
  • : 336
  • :
  • : 1x8pp b&w and colour
  • :
  • :
  • :
  • :
  • :
  • :
Barcode 9781471160790
9781471160790

Description

Flesh and Blood is the story of the McGann family as told through seven maladies - diseases, wounds or ailments that have afflicted Steve's relatives over the last century and a half, and which have helped mould him into what he now perceives himself to be. It's the story of how health, or the lack of it, fuels our collective will and informs our personal narrative. Health is the motivational antagonist in the drama of our life story - circumscribing the extent of our actions, the quality of our character and the breadth of our ambition. Our maladies are the scribes that write the restless and mutating genome of our self-identity. Flesh and Blood combines McGann's passion for genealogy with an academic interest in the social dimensions of medicine - and fuses these with a lifelong exploration of drama as a way to understand what motivates human beings to do the things they do. He looks back at scenes from his own life that were moulded by medical malady, and trace the crooked roots of each affliction through the lives of his ancestors, whose grim maladies punctuate the public documents or military records of my family tree. In this way he asks a simple, searching question: how have these maladies helped to shape the story of the person he is today?

Reviews

A truly fascinating read. Flesh and Blood is the story of the McGann family as told through seven maladies – diseases, wounds or ailments that have afflicted Steve’s relatives over the last century and a half. Each chapter begins with a medical explanation of the particular malady being looked at. Then the author moves on to looking at the history of a generation of his family through a particular record and examines the social issues affecting them at this time. Paul, The Book Grocer

Author description

Stephen McGann is an English actor, one of a family of acting brothers including Joe, Paul and Mark. He began his professional career in 1982, starring in the West End musical Yakety Yak. He has since worked extensively in British theatre and on screen. He has portrayed Doctor Turner since the very first episode of the series. He is married to the writer Heidi Thomas.