More Than It Hurts You

a gifted writer

Darin Strauss is a gifted writer who can describe events and feelings in ways that I have never thought of before. He worked very hard in order to make sure that the reader fully understood each character and his/her motivations. That said, sometimes the details bordered on the tedious(especially in reference to Josh's job and the world of big-time advertising) and I just wanted to get back to the story at hand. There are many shades of gray with each character and no good vs evil story here. Unfortunately, I didn't particularly like any of the characters. Although, I would say the book is well worth reading it is probably not for the more casual reader who likes their books more "plot-driven" than "character-driven".

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Not what I expected

I read this entire book but had to force myself through it after the first few chapters. I agree that the author spent too much time describing people and places time that should have been used to develop the underlying story more fully. At one point I thought some other book was mistakenly included in my printed copy! The premise was promising but the book disappointing.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

More than it hurts you

This book moved very slow at a number of times and then ending left a lot to be desired.

Good Read

I liked this book alot. I always couldn't wait to get back to it. It was true to form. I have to admit I was a little disappointed in the ending. I guess that it does happen that way too.

Great book -- best of the year

I loved this book. It's an incredibly powerful story, exceptionally told. My whole book club loved this one. I highly recommend it.

'Rage, that devoted propagandist, airbrushes memory whenever it can.'

Darin Strauss in this, his third novel ('Chang and Eng', 'The Real McCoy'), permanently secures his position as one of America's finest novelists. The sheer variety of his choices of stories, his elegant ability as a wordsmith, and the fervor with which he approaches difficult issues within the context of creating a fascinating story are only a few of the reasons for his success. Strauss has the gift to create unique characters, develop them thoroughly and gradually throughout the weaving of his tale, and leave the reader with a high degree of concern about the future of these people long after the lat page of his novels are complete. Always electing to introduce rarely known information as a key to his works, MORE THAN IT HURTS YOU explores the definition and significance of the mysterious phenomenon Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy (or MSP - the 'DSM-4 factitious disorder by proxy'). It is important to the author that the reader understand this complex entity: according to the dictionary it is defined as follows: 'Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSP), a type of factitious disorder, is a mental illness in which a person acts as if an individual he or she is caring for has a physical or mental illness when the person is not really sick. People with MSP assume the role of a sick person indirectly by producing or lying about illness in another person under their care, usually a child under 6 years of age. (The term 'by proxy' means 'through a substitute.') People with MSP have an inner need for the other person (often his or her child) to be seen as ill or injured. It is not done to achieve a concrete benefit, such as financial gain. People with MSP are even willing to have the child or other patient undergo painful or risky tests and operations in order to get the sympathy and special attention given to people who are truly ill and their families. Factitious disorders are considered mental illnesses because they are associated with severe emotional difficulties'. Strauss very subtly investigates this syndrome through his creation of a happy family - Josh and Dori Golding and their infant son Zack. Josh is a well-liked, creative salesman for the television network Sparkplug, while Dori is a trained nurse/phlebotomist whose devotion to her family is exemplary. As Josh's attention to new work developments strays from his family focus, Dori rushes Zack to the hospital for gastric pain and subsequently for hematemesis and there is 'treated' the Pediatric ER doctor Darlene Stokes and her intern. Dr. Stokes fails to do certain blood screening tests and Dori accuses her of mismanagement. Zack of course recovers (we later learn that Dori has placed blood in Zack's emesis to begin the Munchhausen Syndrome by Proxy process) and the race between patient/parents and physician/hospital is on. Each of the characters reflects backgrounds that make them 'persons of interest': Darlene was the illegitimate child of a young African American woman, impregnated by one Charles Stokes, a drug dealer who is imprisoned where he changes his religion to Muslim and his name to Intelligent Muhammad. From this rather lowly background Darlene rises above her white classmates, elects to affiliate with her black brethren in housing and activities, becomes a physician, has a brief affair with the first man who pays attention to her (a Caucasian Jew), becomes pregnant, marries, has a child she names James, and when her husband dies, centers her life on her career, her son, and her single mother Alice. Josh Goldin is Jewish as is Dori, a girl of Turkish descent. As the accusation of Munchausen's Syndrome is made against Dori, the Goldin's seek advice from a haughty Jewish lawyer who manufactures concepts that Darlene has vindictive feelings against the Jewish Goldins (racism) and causes the Goldin's to believe his case against '

Lost

I cannot just read this book. I find myself going back and rereading and rereading, trying to figure out if I missed something or if this is just an awful book... It really is just a boring book, terribly written by the author.

Couldn't Pick it Up!

I was so disappointed in this book. I'm the type of person who reads while I eat, cook, clean, etc., but this book was hard to keep open. I didn't 'get' any of the characters and felt the author was more in love with his alliterations, descriptions, etc. than trying to grab the reader with the poignancy of what could have been a great book. Sorry, but this author is not on my list of must reads.

Good book

I liked the plot, the character development and I did care for the people in the book.

Couldn't put it down

I was immediately drawn into this story in the first pages and devoured the book in one day. Much has been written about the disease Munchhausen by proxy but this is the first time I have read a book that includes the thoughts of the person purported to have the mental illness. I thought the book was well-written. It included the perspectives of the involved spouse of the guilty party, the accusing doctor as well as her peers at the hospital and the thoughts toward the accusing doctor from her own family. Engrossing read ... you will love it.

A reviewer

This book is everything that current fiction should be, and so seldom is. It's bold, it's ambitious, and it takes a riveting, realistic plot and uses it to make larger critiques about the society we live in. It has the pace of a thriller, but its author's perceptive insights build sympathy even for the villains of the piece. As someone who worked in publishing many years ago, I can tell you that this is the sort of book I was always looking for, and rarely found. As a constant reader today, I can tell you it is a joy.

Very disappointing

This book was nothing like I expected. There were way too many tangents and not enough focus on the 'Munchausen by proxy' story line.

Boring

The plot seems interesting until you actually begin to read it. I was only about twenty pages in when I stopped reading because I was so bored. I eventually picked it back up to finish, and I still couldn't get into it. It seems the author tried to make the characters more complex and instead added a lot of inane details that did nothing for the story. I forced myself to finish it but I don't recommend this one.

Bland, clueless characters

I tried to become interested in Dori and Josh and the baby, but I just didn't care about any of them. I didn't care whether she was suffering from MBPS or not. I found them to be your average, boring, 'I'm entitled' couple. Strauss does such a good job portraying them as such that it's a bit of a put-off and doesn't really help you connect with them (unless you, too, possibly feel boring and entitled). I found the background story of Dr. Stokes much more interesting and would have rather read a whole novel about her and her son.

More Than It Hurts You

In Long Island Josh Goldin loves his wife Dori and their eight month old son Zack. However, the TV salesman is very worried about Zack who twice has been rushed to the emergency room with strange life-threatening symptoms. African-American ICU pediatric chief Dr. Darlene Stokes reports the Goldin case to the Child Protective Services her theory is that Zack¿s mom suffers from Munchausen syndrome, which causes her to inflict harm to her child in an attempt to draw attention to herself and her family.------------- CPS decides to take Zack away from his white Jewish parents who challenge the government agency in court. The public is divided between parental rights and children protection as the case is not quite as black and white as the two sides pretend it to be.----------------- Extremely timely with the Texas Child Protective Services-Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints incident and the media sell out to the Pentagon, Darin Strauss slices and dices the new American economy in which everything is for sale especially health (you may not be able to buy health unless your Cheney, but many Americans cannot afford anything but illness and death). Whether it is a hospital bed, a news report or a politician, the price is right. At times the powerful satirical elements overwhelm the basic social issue of parental rights vs. professional opinion re the welfare of a child as everyone is stereotyped to lampoon some aspect of society. Darin Strauss carves up Bush¿s American dream asserting that for many it is more a nightmare.---------- Harriet Klausner

More Than It Hurts You

In Long Island Josh Goldin loves his wife Dori and their eight month old son Zack. However, the TV salesman is very worried about Zack who twice has been rushed to the emergency room with strange life-threatening symptoms. African-American ICU pediatric chief Dr. Darlene Stokes reports the Goldin case to the Child Protective Services her theory is that Zack¿s mom suffers from Munchausen syndrome, which causes her to inflict harm to her child in an attempt to draw attention to herself and her family.------------ CPS decides to take Zack away from his white Jewish parents who challenge the government agency in court. The public is divided between parental rights and children protection as the case is not quite as black and white as the two sides pretend it to be.---------- Extremely timely with the Texas Child Protective Services-Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints incident and the media sell out to the Pentagon, Darin Strauss slices and dices the new American economy in which everything is for sale especially health (you may not be able to buy health unless your Cheney, but many Americans cannot afford anything but illness and death). Whether it is a hospital bed, a news report or a politician, the price is right. At times the powerful satirical elements overwhelm the basic social issue of parental rights vs. professional opinion re the welfare of a child as everyone is stereotyped to lampoon some aspect of society. Darin Strauss carves up Bush¿s American dream asserting that for many it is more a nightmare.------------ Harriet Klausner

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