The Sensitives, Oliver Broudy
The Sensitives, Oliver Broudy
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The Sensitives

Author: Oliver Broudy

Narrator: Holter Graham

Unabridged: 9 hr 26 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/14/2020


Synopsis

A compelling exploration of the mysteries of environmental toxicity and the community of “sensitives”—people with powerful, puzzling symptoms resulting from exposure to chemicals, fragrances, and cell phone signals, that have no effect on “normals.”

They call themselves “sensitives.” Over fifty million Americans endure a mysterious environmental illness that renders them allergic to chemicals. Innocuous staples from deodorant to garbage bags wreak havoc on sensitives. For them, the enemy is modernity itself.

No one is born with EI. It often starts with a single toxic exposure. Then the symptoms hit: extreme fatigue, brain fog, muscle aches, inability to tolerate certain foods. With over 85,000 chemicals in the environment, danger lurks around every corner. Largely ignored by the medical establishment and dismissed by family and friends, sensitives often resort to odd ersatz remedies, like lining their walls with aluminum foil or hanging mail on a clothesline for days so it can “off-gas” before they open it.

Broudy encounters Brian Welsh, a prominent figure in the EI community, and quickly becomes fascinated by his plight. When Brian goes missing, Broudy travels with James, an eager, trusting sensitive to find Brian, investigate this disease, and delve into the intricate, ardent subculture that surrounds it. Their destination: Snowflake, the capital of the EI world. Located in eastern Arizona, it is a haven where sensitives can live openly without fear of toxins or the judgment of insensitive “normals.”

While Broudy’s book is wry, pacey, and down-to-earth, it also dives deeply into compelling corners of medical and American history. He finds telling parallels between sensitives and their cultural forebears, from the Puritans to those refugees and dreamers who settled the West. Ousted from mainstream society, these latter-day exiles nonetheless shed bright light on the anxious, noxious world we all inhabit now.

About Oliver Broudy

Oliver Broudy is a freelance journalist living in western Massachusetts. He has written for Men’s Health, The New York Times, Mother Jones, and many other publications. His work has taken him to China, Afghanistan, New Zealand, and elsewhere. He has written about pop stars, sports stars, kung-fu, anarchy, and lots of weird medical conditions. He’s been a finalist for the National Magazine Award and his Amazon singles have twice been named best single of the year.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Kayla

Oliver Broudy's "The Sensitives" is difficult to wrap your head around. It ventures into the world of people affected by a dubiously recognized medical condition know as EI - an illness caused by "the 85,000 synthetic chemicals in play in our daily environments" or "the seventeen pesticides, on aver......more

Goodreads review by Julie

Interesting but lacked a thesis (a comment I've written on hundreds of student papers!).......more

Goodreads review by Greg

As the husband of a woman who developed a high degree of chemical sensitivity, I was really interested in picking up this book to learn more. As others have noted, I was confused at first by the author’s idea of taking a road trip with one person suffering from “Environmental Illness” or EI, as desc......more

Goodreads review by Luann

I rated this book as five stars in the hopes that more people will read it and more people will understand that not all disabilities are visible. Yes, I do have a form of environmental illness and yes, I feel that most people dismiss my issues as mental or misinformed, including family, friends, and......more