Hurts So Good
The Science and Culture of Pain on Purpose
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4.4 • 10 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
"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. In Hurts 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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist Cowart looks at sex, sports, and science in their intense consideration on why some people choose to inflict pain on themselves. "Masochism is a very human behavior, and one that only sometimes has anything to do with sex," Cowart writes, arguing that such commonplace activities as extreme sports and workaholism tap into the same desire. To that end, they explore extreme and painful activities that people participate in by choice: there's a chapter on hot-pepper-eating competitions that feature the world's hottest chili peppers ("I get a rush. It makes me feel good. It gives me energy," the inventor of the pepper says); one on ultramarathoning, where people are "allowed to stare pain in the face"; and one covering various types of religious pain and their modern-day, secular adherents (scientists found a "biological similarity between starvation... and getting high on drugs"). Along the way, there are informative explanations of the neurobiology of pain and pleasure, and plenty of personal reflection on the author's own relationship to masochism. Queasy readers need not apply—graphic depictions of masochistic sex, bulimia, and self-mutilation are in no short supply. But for those already into the subject, Cowart's raw study offers insight.
