The Empathy Exams

 Book 53 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read from June 3 - 15

The Empathy Exams

by Leslie Jamison

Summary (via the book jacket)

Beginning with her experience as a medical actor, paid to act out symptoms for medical students to diagnose, Leslie Jamison's The Empathy Exams asks essential questions about our basic understanding of others: How should we care about one another? How can we feel another person's pain? Jamison draws from her own experiences to engage in an exploration of empathy that extends far beyond her own life. These essays range widely - from street violence to reality television, poverty tourism to literary sentimentality, illness to incarceration - in their search for a kind of sight shaped by humility and grace.

My Opinion

2 stars

I didn't connect with this book.  I could try to come up with other words or more of an explanation  but I can't really sum it up other than that.  Most of the time feeling "meh" about a book would lead me to a neutral 3 star rating but I really had an interest in the source material so I would be the audience for this book and it didn't grab me.

There was an interesting point about dismissing someone as "just" looking for attention, as if wanting attention isn't enough of a reason to feel and/or display emotions.