ABSTRACT
Story telling is a quintessential human activity. In recent years the appeal of narratives has taken a substantive turn towards the pathologised body, and the recounting of chronic illness experience. It is likely that this fascination with self-related decrement and self-disclosure on themes relating to mortality and death is the logical progression of an increasing tendency towards self-reflexivity in western culture generally, a tendency echoed in the social sciences. Over the past 15 years we have witnessed a sudden deluge of biographical accounts of illness experience written by media celebrities, journalists, academics and members of the general public.
