ABSTRACT
Susan Sontag had it only half right; wellness, as well as illness, is metaphor in American society. Although obviously prized in its own right, good health now represents more than merely a state of physical (and perhaps mental) well-being. For many Americans, especially the more affluent, it symbolizes a secular state of grace. As such, good health constitutes affirmation of a life lived virtuously. Furthermore, there is now a canon that, like the elaborate system of 650 dietary rules and abominations of the Torah, defines who are the Chosen—and who are not. We live in an age in which the keepers of the canon—the moral elite who exhort us to embrace low-fat, high-fiber diets, metabolic workouts, aerobic stepping, stress management, fitness center memberships, and at least eight glasses of designer-label water a day—can help determine our social and economic success.
