Talking Bodies

This book contains stories which are experienced and written by ten white, middle-class, academic men and one woman from Australia, Finland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the USA. What is it that brings authors separated by such long distances together to write stories? Why have these stories been told? All are based on autobiographical narratives stemming from the authors' own experiences or from their interpretations of stories told by other men. Many of the story-tellers are ex-athlete, so to speak, able-bodied men. But, what happens when this feeling of masculinity begins to change or even disappear? What does it mean when a familiar body becomes troublesome, disruptive, alien, or even anguished? This book opens an interesting and fresh avenue in the 'city' of gender studies. It is a rather unusual book in the field of social science - unusual in a positive sense. The book can be recommended to students and teachers working in fields engaged, whether practically or theoretically, with the living body. Take your own place as a reader. -back cover.