You’ve seen BookTok go crazy promoting the usual “literary” standards: stories you’ve seen thousands of times featuring characters accomplishing daily tasks without a problem. But what about the rest of us? Isn’t it time for a novel to hit the stands that glorifies our struggles and aggravation?
Well, you’re in luck!
Here are our top recommendations for the discerning Spoonie Reader! Guaranteed to soothe that need for a classic tale of invisibility and not-so-accomplished redemption!
Symptoms and Prejudice by Jane Doe (Patient #512)
The Great Hypochondriac by F. This Diagnosis
One Hundred Years of Medical Testing by Gabriel Gave-Up-on Medicine
The Call of the Normal Test Result by Jack in-the Box (Doctor)
The Adventures of Spoonie Finn by Mark My Words
Lowered Expectations by Charles Dicken-Around-With-Patients’-Hopes
Alice’s Adventures in Obtaining a Coherent Diagnosis by Lews Your-Cool
Charlie and the Incorrect Information Factory by Roald The-Dice
The Count of Misdiagnoses by Alexandre Dus-More-Research-Online
A Tale of Two Specialists by Charles Didn’t-Read-the-Chart
A Portrait of a Patient as a Screaming Hysteric by James Just-Wants-Answers
The Girl With the Mile-Long Symptom List by Steig Learned-Not-To-Complain
The Cost of Living With a Disease No One Actually Believes In by Deborah Lost-All-Her-Friends
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Suffering With Illnesses No One Can See? by Jeanette Wishes-She-Were-Dead
War and Peace: A Day in the Life of an IBS Patient by Leo Told-You-I-Was-Sick
The Brain Also Fails by Ernest Depression-Way
As I Lay in a Hospital Bed Contemplating My Decision to Go to the ER by William Fuck-This-Disease
Gone With the Brain Fog by Margaret Maybe-I-Meant-to-Say-That?
Waiting for Answers by Samuel Bet-They’re-Normal
Their Eyes Were Watching Doctors Shrug by Zora Needs Help
All Quiet in the Therapist’s Office by Erich May Regret-Speaking
The Pain, The Nausea, and the Brain Fog by C.A. List-of-Specialists
Twenty Thousand Pill Bottles Under the Sink by Jules Ventured-to-the-ER
The Strange Case of Dr. Idiot and Mr. Invisible Illness Patient by Robert Lost Sense-Twelve-Appointments-Ago
The Old Man and the Argument Over Diagnostic Testing by Ernest Hem-and-Haw
(My deepest apologies to these authors and their families 🙏)