Out of Joint

Mary Felstiner is a professor of history at San Francisco State University and the author of To Paint Her Life: Charlotte Salomon in the Nazi Era.

""Felstiner brings a feminist's eye and a historian's tool kit to this narrative of her decades-long struggle with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a crippling autoimmune disease that afflicts more than two million Americans. . . . The book's total effect is powerful, and her major chords strike true: RA is a devastatingly disabling condition with steep private and public costs; its disproportionate effects on women have not been adequately addressed; its social, political, and interpersonal implications are significant. In the end, Felstiner's story is as much about the complexities of belonging—as a woman, a feminist, a Jew, an intellectual—as it is about her illness. So it has something to discover for any reader, pained joints or otherwise.""—Publishers Weekly|""Felstiner proves not only an able historian but a powerful memoirist, deftly combining the private and the public. . . . Particularly compelling are her vivid accounts of how it actually feels to be her: not only the pain that can stop her from doing simple tasks or her problems with side effects of medications, but the tensions chronic illness can create in a marriage and the anxious fears that can flood the mind. . . . If chronicles of triumph over illness may be too upbeat a model for afflictions that worsen over time, Felstiner proves there is something to be gained from any experience, and something more to be gained from examining and writing about it.""—Merle Rubin, Los Angeles Times|""Our species likes to make sense of things, to find a story to explain even sickness, even storms. In Out of Joint: A Private & Public Story of Arthritis, history professor Mary Felstiner looks for her story within the larger story of her disease. Like many people visited by illness, Felstiner, diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) at age 28, wants to know why. In this artful and intelligent book, she examines this question from many angles—personal, medical historical. . . . Her candor and her research, as well as her sharp and graceful writing style, make Out of Joint an evocative and provocative read.""—Frances Lefkowitz, Body + Soul|""Out of Joint is superbly written and a must for anyone wishing to better understand rheumatoid arthritis.""—ForeWord|“Out of Joint reminds us that the words we use as health professionals can have a profound negative effect on the recipient’s appraisal of the situation. . . . . This book is inspiring and easy to read.”—Sarah Ryan, Nursing Standard

• AcknowledgmentsPreviewPart I. Getting Hurt Shock, 1969 Tops, 1959-69 Fatigue, 1971-74 Promises, 1975-76 Alternatives, 1979Part II. Getting Wise Inflammation, 1980-84 Immunity, 1985 Shame, 1986 Stiffness, 1987 Distrust, 1987-88 Morbidity, 1988 Mortality, 1989Part III. Getting Back Access, 1993 Despair, 1993 Moves, 1994-95 Truths, 1996 Pieces, 1996-97 Wondeer, 1941-49 Falsehood, 1950-59 Pain, 1960-68 Stress, 1997Part IV. Getting Help Family, 1997 Partners, 1998 Time, 1998 Revolution, 1999 Rights, 1999 Hands, 1999Part V. Getting Past Healing RetrospectNotesResources