Imagine What It's Like: A Literature and Medicine Anthology

673 Pages·2008·2.49 MB·English

by  Ruth Nadelhaft

I
m
anthology/ literature and medicine
a
g
This anthology grows out of Literature & Medicine: Humanities at the Heart
Imagine
of Health Care,® a national, award-winning reading and discussion program i
n
for health care professionals that, according to one participant, “renews the
heart and soul of health care.” Started by the Maine Humanities Council in 1997, by the
e What
beginning of its second decade, Literature & Medicine has reached across the country, from

Florida to Montana, Maine to Hawai‘i. This would not have been possible without major support W
from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Bringing together diverse groups of health
It’s Like
care professionals in a variety of health care settings, Literature & Medicine discussions help
participants deepen their communication and interpersonal skills while increasing their cultural h
awareness, empathy for patients, and job satisfaction. www.mainehumanities.org
a
t
EditEd by

I Ruth NadElhaft
dannie abse Felicia nimue ackerman conrad aiken edward albee louisa may alcott t with VictoRia boNEbakkER
’
s
Jean amery donald antrim w. h. auden Peter baida henri barbusse John bayley

L
sallie bingham arna bontemPs gwendolyn brooks Jeanne bryner mikhail bulgakov
i
raPhael camPo raymond carver marion deutsche cohen samuel taylor coleridge
k
william cowPer cortney davis theodore dePPe toi derricotte emma donoghue Florence elon e
anita endrezze susan glasPell donald hall Joy harJo Jan de hartog nathaniel hawthorne
a
molly holden maxine kumin leonard kriegel Jane lazarre robert liPsyte
literature
michel de montaigne lorrie moore ruth nadelhaFt leslie nyman Flannery o’connor and
medicine
marianne a. Paget katherine PhiliPs eileen Pollack rachel naomi remen anne sexton anthology
susan Fromberg shaeFFer Jonathan shay marisa silver Pat staten wislawa szymborska
w e
it d
dylan thomas Frank t. vertosic, Jr. Fred w. voget darcy wakeField walt whitman h it
v e
ic d
to b
r y
ia
bo ru
Ruth Nadelhaft received her Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Wisconsin, n t
e h
Madison, and she taught at the University of Maine until 1997. Elected to the Maine Humanities ba n
Council Board in 1984, she served for ten years, two years as Chair. Professor Nadelhaft has been kk a
e d
actively involved in the Literature & Medicine project of the Maine Humanities Council since r e
l
its inception. She and her husband divide their time between Maine and Manhattan. h
a
F
t

Cover design by Lori Harley
Cover photograph by Kati Neudert www.uhpress.hawaii.edu a literature and medicine anthology
Imagine
What
It’s Like
a publication of
A ProgrAm of the
mAine humAnities council
published with funding from
national endowment for the humanities
anthem blue cross and blue shield
maine humanities council
morton family foundation
hawai`i council for the humanities
Imagine
What
It’s Like
edited by
ruth nAdelhAft
with VictoriA bonebAkker
a literature and medicine anthology
a biography monograph
published for the biographical research center
by the university of hawai‘i press
2008
© 2008 Maine Humanities Council
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
13 12 11 10 09 08 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Imagine what it’s like : a literature and medicine anthology / edited by
Ruth Nadelhaft, with Victoria Bonebakker.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8248-3317-6 (pbk. : acid-free paper)
1. Medicine—Literary collections. I. Nadelhaft, Ruth L., 1938–
II. Bonebakker, Victoria.
PN6071.M38I43 2008
808.8'03561—dc22
2008011874
University of Hawai‘i Press books are printed on acid-free paper
and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the
Council on Library Resources
Designed by Lori Harley
Printed by Edwards Brothers, Inc.
contents
acknowledgments .........................................xi
general introduction ....................................1
- section one -
the experience of illness
introduction 3
musée des beaux Arts w. h. auden 7
of training michel eyquem de montaigne 8
innocents Abroad robert lipsyte 17
Applicants felicia nimue ackerman 25
the cast-Away william cowper 39
dejection: An ode samuel taylor coleridge 42
doctors anne sexton 47
the wall 49
the Poet of ignorance 51
cleaning darcy wakefield 53
in kafka’s house leonard Kriegel 56
homage to isaac bashevis singer susan fromberg schaeffer 70
silent snow, secret snow conrad aiken 78
A sense of threat Jane lazarre 92
hospital molly holden 108
vi contents
- section two -
beginnings and endings
introduction 109
milk eileen pollack 111
three generations of native American women’s birth experience Joy harjo 126
labors of love ruth nadelhaft 131
i’m born a crow indian fred w. voget, assisted by mary K. mee 144
the sandbox edward albee 152
the enduring chill flannery o’connor 161
rappaccini’s daughter nathaniel hawthorne 181
black mountain, 1977 donald antrim 203
let us have medicos of our own maturity anonymous patient 206
hello, hello henry maxine Kumin 207
the last words of henry manley 208
what remains emma donoghue 211
A summer tragedy arna bontemps 220
elegy dylan thomas 228
do not go gentle into that good night 230
And death shall have no dominion 231
A refusal to mourn the death, by fire, of a child in london 233
the smile was dannie abse 235
delivery toi derricotte 241
homeless Juliet s. Kono 251
son, After the Attempt 253
the first time 254
royally Pissed 256
nest 257
the struggle 259
the Permission 261
in a rush 263
the way 265
contents vii
- section three -
trauma and recovery
introduction 267
the steel windpipe mikhail bulgakov 269
this red oozing Jeanne bryner 276
A Jury of her Peers susan glaspell 278
betrayal of “what’s right” Jonathan shay 295
the day my father tried to kill us pat staten 311
what i saw from where i stood marisa silver 336
mending sallie bingham 348
torture Jean améry 357
viii contents
- section four -
coming to terms
introduction 373
the work of talk marianne a. paget 375
without donald hall 404
orinda upon little hector Philips Katherine philips 406
the mother gwendolyn brooks 407
on being Asked to write a Poem in memory of Anne sexton maxine Kumin 409
october, yellowstone Park 410
Ponies gathering in the dark anita endrezze 413
cathedral raymond carver 417
Ashes to Ashes to Ashes ruth nadelhaft 429
wisteria leslie nyman 443
Premature elegy (A sequence of Poems) florence elon 448
report from the hospital wislawa szymborska 456
the suicide’s room 457
in Praise of feeling bad About yourself 459
Astonishing the blind Jack hodgins 460
People like that Are the only People here:
canonical babbling in Peed onk lorrie moore 466
contents ix
- section five -
healing costs
introduction 491
Admission, children’s unit theodore deppe 493
the eleventh henri barbusse 495
baptism by rotation mikhail bulgakov 498
what the nurse likes cortney davis 506
excerpts from The Hospital Jan de hartog 509
A woman’s war frank t. vertosick, Jr. 521
mystery and Awe rachel naomi remen 534
the wound-dresser walt whitman 553
A night louisa may alcott 556
A nurse’s story peter baida 568
A separate species: relationships
with the world and with ourselves marion deutsche cohen 591
excerpt from Elegy for Iris John bayley 600
case history dannie abse 624
ten Patients and Another raphael campo 625
the 10,000th Aids death in san francisco 631
on his blindness John milton 633
suggested longer readings .........................635
notes on authors and selections .............640
index of authors and selections ...............657