Wellmania

January 1, 2018
Delaney, a lifestyle journalist, takes the reader through her 12-year search for wellness in this amusing memoir. She belatedly realizes that navel-gazing may not be healthy as she relentlessly pursues all that the wellness industry offers in sections titled after the holy trinity of wellness goals: “Clean” (eating healthily), “Lean” (getting into shape), and “Serene” (finding happiness). In “Clean,” the reader joins her in a grueling 101-day fast in Australia, her homeland. She combines vivid descriptions, such as of a required daily herb drink described as resembling, in taste, flat beer with 10 cigarettes mixed in; hysterical accounts, such as of her stealing breakfast from a business associate; and medical explanations of what’s really happening to her body. “Lean” looks at the benefits of daily yoga as well as its drawbacks, such as rampant consumerism and commodification. The meatiest section, “Serene,” explores meditation retreats, from a spooky monastery to an off-the-wall new age retreat where psychotherapy is practiced. Delaney is generous in sharing her experiences and skillful in weaving them into reported facts, but stingy in doling out conclusions. She offers only two paragraphs of concrete advice, which basically boils down to “build a routine.” Still, the book gives copious examples of how one could start doing that.

May 23, 2017
Wellmania takes on the industrial wellness complex, a billion-dollar industry that mainstreams and monetises ancient traditions for affluent consumers. Feeling depleted from decades in the fast lane, journalist Brigid Delaney explores the modern (and very Western) pursuit of what she calls ‘clean, lean and serene’ living. Going gonzo on wellness, Delaney undertakes and entertainingly documents her own search for these goals via trends such as extreme fasting in Bondi, yoga in Sri Lanka, an enema in the Philippines and group therapy in the bush. Her search is earnest, and she’s game for just about anything, but Delaney is also unflinching in her examination of the darker side of the wellness industry: the tendency to swing between hedonism and contrition, which she sees reflected in society at large; the environmental, cultural and moral quagmire that the West’s wellness industry leaves in its wake; and its attendant narcissism and body-image obsession. Delaney is a relatable and fearless tour guide on this journey, game enough to go to the very edge while you watch from a safe distance; there is something both methodical and simultaneously chaotic about her process. Readers who recognise themselves in Delaney’s search will be amused and uncomfortable in equal parts. Jenni Kauppi is an editor, critic and bookseller 

February 1, 2018
An Australian travel writer's exuberant sampling of wellness methods.After years of drinking, smoking, and carefree eating, Guardian senior writer Delaney (This Restless Life: Churning Through Love, Work, and Travel, 2009, etc.) sought to "reset my body and my life." Enticed by a magazine assignment, the author left Brooklyn for her native Australia to embark on a controversial, promise-laden 101-day fasting program and evaluate its effectiveness. Though the program's core clinician diagnosed her as "highly toxic," the author began the hardcore regimen with a mixture of enthusiasm, hopefulness, and skepticism. Though she didn't finish successfully, the process itself was by turns fascinating, grueling, and tedious. Her body revolted, her mind raced, and her breath became repulsive; she also suffered two bouts of frightening chest pain. Delaney expanded her wellness survey to include the extreme, sweat-dripping physical demands of Bikram yoga. She also opines on the addictive nature of the multibillion-dollar wellness industry and how it has replaced religion for some, and she evaluates its place in society as a commodity. She effectively explores the nuances of the "so-called healing crisis paradox" and, through her own anecdotes and experiences, probes how and why people feel the need to detoxify their bodies (and minds) and emerge "clean" from impurities. In the final section, Delaney delves into the art of coffee colonics, meditation, and the mindful serenity craze, chronicling her time at a silent retreat. While the author reached no profound epiphany, she admits that "the road to wellness has been my own personal stations of the cross," achieved with mixed results. Throughout the narrative, Delaney proves to be a witty tour guide across the wellness wonderland, and the book will certainly appeal to readers curious to dip their feet in.Eye-opening and entertainingly voyeuristic, this impressionistic taste test illustrates the struggles more than the benefits of detoxification techniques.

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