Ordinary Life: A Memoir of Illness

This book is a striking departure from the literature of illness as well as a remarkable literary work in its own right. The stories we typically hear about people coping with serious illness are set up as heroic tales that emphasize the victim's triumph over adversity or even portray the experience of illness as a transformative event that makes the survivor "a better person."

In this compelling account written from within an illness, Kathlyn Conway gives us a deeply honest description of ...