By: Julia Balacko, BA, MA

Case Western Reserve University

Book Cover courtesy of UC Press website

This October, renowned medical anthropologist Cheryl Mattingly’s newest book is set to be released by the University of California Press. Blending her training in anthropology and ethnography with her passion for moral philosophy, Mattingly’s volume will explore the daily lives and decision-making of African-American families caring for children with serious chronic illnesses. It asks us to view the minute workings of day-to-day social life and interaction as a “laboratory” in which new moral ideals and understandings of what constitutes “a good life” can be negotiated. Be sure to read an extended excerpt of the book here: http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520281202