The Pain Project: A Couple’s Story of Confronting Chronic Pain

Stanley’s 2015 memoir, Fallen, chronicled how she and her husband, Paradis, rebuilt their lives after he fell off a scaffold in 2008, receiving “catastrophic injuries” that left him with limited mobility and in near-constant pain. In this tender follow-up, Stanley recounts how, 10 years after the accident, she and Paradis dedicated a year to exploring options for mitigating his symptoms. Stanley captures the expected scenes of frustration and anguish, including the “sense of overwhelming defeat” they felt after a nerve block procedure failed to improve Paradis’s condition. However, there are plenty of lighthearted moments as well, as when Stanley offers a bemused account of purchasing anal THC suppositories at the recommendation of a budtender (the couple lives in Canada, where recreational cannabis is legalized). Other scenes split the difference between uplifting and heartbreaking, as when Paradis reflects on playing guitar in a gig with his band: “It was a great night, better than I could have imagined. But I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to rally the energy to do it all over again.” Salves for Paradis’s pain remain stubbornly elusive, but Stanley’s candor and nimble storytelling will have readers following closely every peak and valley of the couple’s quest for relief. It’s a probing account of what it’s like to reside in what Susan Sontag memorably called the “kingdom of the sick.” (Apr.)