Migraine is a major public health issue, costing the US economy, by one recent estimate, over thirty billion dollars/year. ([...]bn in treatment, [...]bn in missed work). Its personal toll is well-known to anyone who suffers the condition, or knows someone well who suffers migraineand it is likely that we all do; about 15% of the world s population is afflicted. Joanna Kempner has taken up the first sociological study of migrainewhich is a worthwhile task in itself, exploring issues of the meanings of pain, the difficulty of communicating the incredibly intense yet entirely personal experience of pain. Migraine is also a highly gendered phenomenon; not only is its incidence and diagnosis greater in women by a factor of three, it has a long history of being dismissed as a psychosomatic condition, brought about by an alleged feminine inability to deal with stress. (This has had consequences for male migraine sufferers, like Scottie Pippen, whose migraine in Game 7 of the 1990 Eastern Conference finals crippled his performance, but more crucially, earned him a label as a choker, unable to handle the pressure of a big game.) Despite long recognition by the medical community as a real condition, migraine confronts a legitimacy gap in American society. Joanna Kempner explains why this is the case, and provides important insights along the way for medical practitioners and even friends and acquaintances of migraine sufferers."