"Virginia Woolf observes that though illness is part of every human being's experience, it has rarely been the focus of literature - like the more acceptable subjects of war and love. We cannot quote Shakespeare to describe a headache. We must, Woolf says, invent language to describe pain.

Illness enhances our perceptions and, she observes, it reduces self-consciousness, it is "the great confessional." Throughout On Being Ill, Woolf discusses the taboos associated with illness, and she explores how illness transforms experience and changes our relationship to the world around us."--BOOK JACKET.