Hurts So Good: The Science and Culture of Pain on Purpose [Paperback]

"A thoughtful, funny, and at times lyrical" (Wall Street Journal) exploration of why people all over the world love to engage in pain on purpose--from dominatrices, religious ascetics, and ultramarathoners to ballerinas, icy ocean bathers, and sideshow performers

Masochism is sexy, human, reviled, worshiped, and delightfully bizarre. Deliberate and consensual pain has been with us for millennia, encompassing everyone from Black Plague flagellants to ballerinas dancing on broken bones to competitive eaters choking down hot peppers while they cry.
 
At its core, masochism is about feeling bad, then better—a phenomenon that is long overdue for a heartfelt and hilarious investigation. And Cowart would know: They are not just a researcher and science writer, they’re an inveterate, high-sensation seeking masochist. InHurts So Good, Cowart unveils how our minds and bodies find meaning and relief in pain—a quirk in our programming that drives discipline and innovation even as it threatens to swallow us whole.Leigh Cowartis a researcher and journalist whose work has appeared inThe Washington Post,New York Magazine,BuzzFeed, and other outlets. Before becoming a journalist, Cowart was immersed in academia, doing research on subjects like sexual dimorphism in leaf-nosed bats and resource allocation in flowers. They live in Asheville, NC.“There’s possibly no one alive more qualified to write about pain than Leigh Cowart. A thoughtful, funny, and at times lyrical look at pain and its deeper human meaning.”The Wall Street Journal“Briskly interweaving history, biology, and reportage…Leigh’s exploded view of pain is an essential component of the excavation of pleasure for which we’re long overdue….Courageous, diverting, and written with dark good humor.”Good Advice/Bad Gay“Informative elÃ+