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1963 saw the appearance of Cicely Saunders' first publication in the British Medical Journal — further evidence of the green shoots of recognition within the medical establishment. In the journal, it followed a leading article published on ‘Distress in Dying’ which had drawn on published research by Exto–Smith and John Hinton. Dr Saunders' letter underscores the importance of letting the patient have an opportunity to talk, and suggests that ‘If physical symptoms are alleviated then mental pain is often lifted also’. A plea is made for more special units for the care of terminally ill patients, particularly those ‘who do not need the resources of a large hospital and who cannot be cared for at home’, and there is ‘a need for more research and still more for teaching in this unusually neglected subject’.

This chapter presents an excerpt from Alec Wilder's 1972 book American Popular Song: The Great Innovators focusing on his review of the movie musical A Damsel in Distress. Wilder suggests that the most popular tune in this musical was A Foggy Dance composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by his brother Ira. He notes Gershwin's use of repeated notes in this song and argues that it was one of the best-known lyrics by Ira.

This final chapter discusses why reading Jude the Obscure and Under Western Eyes is a different experience from that provided by the earlier novels, but why they are essential novels with which to conclude a study of the senses. In Jude the focus changes from sensory to mental experience: in scenes of ‘mutual distress’, Jude’s and Sue’s idealising tragically loses or denies the moments in which the senses and the mind might be reunited. Razumov is depicted as an even lonelier figure as he seeks to exert mental control over his senses, which are driven to re-enact scenes of a hallucinatory intensity. Whilst, in the changed epistemology of these novels, the protagonists’ minds are seen to be inhabited by words and the careful watching of them, in both novels it is bodily gesture that is finally required to declare the truth. In the short Postscript which follows, the fundamental empiricist affinity between Hardy and Conrad is re-affirmed, and their distinctiveness from other realist novelists is re-visited in terms of the scale of their vision and the centrality of the word ‘existence’ in their lexicon.

This chapter focuses on Arcadia and Signals of Distress, and the relationship of the individual to the larger community, in particular the sense of marginality. In both novels, published in the early 1990s, new arrivals and existing inhabitants face uncertainty in periods of great transition. The two settings are contrasting. The first novel is decidedly urban, and, as Jim Crace says, ‘I'm addicted to the imperfections of city life’. However, key characters are drawn from the countryside. In both novels, certain individuals seem periodically at odds with both the landscape and the trajectory of history, and all of them explore the rituals of everyday existence, especially those of trade and desire, in a series of crises of identity and social conflicts. In the imaginary settings, the first unnamed and the second a rendition of an obscure backwater in the early nineteenth century, Crace creates what might be termed an ‘imaginary realism’.

This chapter examines Greg Egan's view of ethics, which can be seen from his earliest breakout story, “The Cutie” (1989). It looks at several facets of ethical concerns, including medical ethics as seen in “Blood Sisters” (1991) and “Cocoon” (1994). It also covers the uneven distribution of technological benefits, best illustrated by “Yeyuka” (1997) and the genetic engineering piracy shown in Distress (1995). Finally, it focuses on our ethical responsibilities to life that we create and to alien life that we may find out in the universe.

This chapter addresses the scientific underpinnings of several of Greg Egan's novels. It first considers the “subjective cosmology” of the universes depicted in Quarantine, Permutation City, and Distress, with their attendant quantum mechanical weirdness. Next, it tackles theories about how our own universe works as seen in the novels Diaspora, Schild's Ladder, and Incandescence. Finally, the chapter provides a rough overview of the alternate-world physics shown in the Orthogonal trilogy, with a particular focus on Clockwork Rocket and Eternal Flame, the two volumes published at the time of writing. It concludes with a section on Egan's use of scientific principles as metaphors for larger philosophical points.

In this Chapter the author describes the circumstances and impact of the Omagh bombing which occurred in Northern Ireland in August 1998, just as the peace process was beginning to see political progress and violence had significantly reduced. The impact on casualties and their families in Omagh, Buncrana in the Irish Republic, and in Madrid, Spain, is described, as are the distress and traumatic consequences for the wider community. The responses of neighbours and friends, the wider Omagh community, its medical, education, not-for-profit and civic services, are described. The contribution of commemorative and arts based events is demonstrated. The risk to the developing peace process and the Belfast Agreement is outlined and how this impacted upon the development of therapeutic services for the local community. The role of politics and politicians in ensuring services were developed, is described.

This chapter shifts to the experience of Somali citizens caught in the crisis, and mostly cut off from the international attempt to intervene. As such, it provides the Somali “voice” to the story, mostly one of attempting to preserve livelihood assets—largely livestock—in the face of a serious drought, Al Shabaab blockades and steeply rising prices. In the end, it is also a narrative about the importance of social networks, how and why people decided to move out from the worst affected areas (distress migration), and what kind of help they sought from clan kin, both within Somalia and in the diaspora. This chapter is devoted to the narratives themselves, with minimal comment from the authors.