Leslie Jamison

A collection of essays explores empathy, using topics ranging from street violence and incarceration to reality television and literary sentimentality to ask questions about people's understanding of and relationships with others.

Essays

The Empathy Exams

Amy Thibodeau

Mixed feelings. There's some great stuff in here but in spots I think the language is too academic to be entirely successful. Also, the narrator's voice reminded me of a woman I used to know who drove me crazy. If someone had an earache, she'd talk about how her ear almost fell off. If someone twisted an ankle, she'd talk about how once a shark nearly tore off her leg. This book and this woman can sometimes feel like they're one-upping the world on who owns the most pain. 

It can be hard going.

Angel Martinez

Empathy is a tired topic. An elementary religion class lecture turned into a pandemic-era buzzword. You'd think that we've collectively said everything that could possibly be said about it. But Leslie Jamison offers 11 more lenses through which we can examine the term: tackling subjects that are unexpected as they are diverse in range, in ways that are equally incisive, attentive, and full of heart. It's the rare essay collection where every word is intentional, where not a single story goes to waste, and where I feel like I'm emerging from the experience with a commitment to becoming a better person and a more thoughtful writer. (Like the author, I, too, come to the defense of cliches!) This is definitely a new all-time favorite that I recommend to everyone who can see and read and feel.

Francis Buggey

I wasn't really a fan of the book honestly. I get what Jamison was conveying in each of the essays. I felt for the people she wrote about, about the experiences she's had. But maybe since I don't have a problem with empathy, the essays seemed... Boring? The essays she wrote and included didn't shock me or educate me on anything, so maybe that's why I don't get the point of it.

Jade Flynn

“Empathy means realising no trauma has discrete edges. Trauma bleeds.”

Normally with essay collections there's a mixed bag of hits and misses. Luckily this collection had more hits. 

Some honourable mentions:


  THE EMPATHY EXAMS - 5/5


  GRAND UNIFIED THEORY OF FEMALE PAIN - 5/5

 Devil's Bait - 5/5 
 The Immortal Horizon - 4/5 
Lost Boys - 4/5

The Empathy Exams Essays

Reviews