" The story does what no theorem can quite do. It may not be 'like the real life' in the superficial sense; but it sets before us an image of what reality may well be like in some central region."
" in many cases, the actors were still engaged in the story, vs a quest for a cure - in imagining alternative outcomes, evaluating the potential meanings of the past and seeking treatments"
"The diverse accounts of the illness in these narratives represnet attentative plots, a telling of the story in different ways each implying a different story of efficacy and a possiblity of an alternative ending of the story."