No Cure for Being Human

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

Life is a chronic condition. We all know, intellectually, that our time on earth is limited. But what would we change if we knew it viscerally?

Hailed by Glennon Doyle as 'the Christian Joan Didion', Kate Bowler was thirty-five when she was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. Before she got sick, she'd accepted the modern idea that life was an endless horizon of possibilities, a series of choices which if made correctly, would lead to a rewarding existence. But now she has to ask one of the most fundamental questions of all: How do we create meaning in our lives as we race against the clock?

In No Cure for Being Human, Kate looks at the ways she has tried to wring purpose from her remaining time. She explores both the comically absurd and the profound, from attempting to remove bestsellers by hollow self-help gurus from the hospital gift shop while still attached to a drip, to crawling into bed with a four-year-old dragon after his birthday party, as mere minutes transform into a transcendent moment, hovering outside of time. Kate discovers how to live bravely and make sense of it all, even when she's told it could come to an end at any moment.

Frank and funny, dark and wise, Kate's irreverent, hard-won observations on dying in No Cure For Being Human chart a bold path toward learning new ways to live.

© Kate Bowler 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Critics Review

A clear-eyed, beautifully written account of coming to terms with that fact that “so often the experiences that define us are the ones we didn’t pick”

The Sunday Times

‘Dry, witty and compassionate; a balm for the prickly soul’

The Independent

A breathtaking, utterly beautiful memoir about what it means to be human. No Cure for Being Human reminds us of all the horrors and beauty of this precious life. Kate Bowler is an incredible writer with something important to tell us. I’ll be pressing this book into the hands of everyone I know, and I’ll be hugging my kids so hard tonight too.

Christie Watson, bestselling author of The Language of Kindness and The Courage to Care

I began reading No Cure for Being Human after dinner one evening and didn’t move until I finished the last gorgeous page. As I finally put this masterpiece down, I thought: Kate Bowler is the only one we can trust to tell us the truth. Bowler is a prophet and her new offering is another true gift to the world. This book will open minds and warm hearts.

Glennon Doyle, bestselling author of Untamed

If you want your life changed and your heart expanded – and to laugh – read this amazing, amazing book.

Julia Samuel, bestselling author of Grief Works and This Too Shall Pass

This is a remarkably poignant memoir about what it means to be human. With grace, wisdom, and humour, Kate Bowler encourages us to cut back on self-help Kool-Aid and teaches us how to make more of our lives.

Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Think Again

In a culture that asks us to constantly strive and improve, Kate Bowler recognises that our own pain is neither an aberration nor an opportunity but a fact of life. There is nobody on earth who sees our humanity quite like Kate Bowler.

Nora McInerny, creator and host of the podcast Terrible, Thanks for Asking

Heartbreaking … a breathtaking narrative

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

With hilarity and courage, Bowler tells the story of being diagnosed with stage-four cancer at thirty-five, forcing her to re-examine the way she (and we) live our lives. This is a brilliant examination of what happens when everything you assumed is suddenly in question, and you have to substitute love for self-actualisation and hope for certainty.

Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk To Someone

A must-read for anyone whose life has been bifurcated into a before and after. Every page shimmers with wit and wisdom.

Suleika Jaouad, author of Between Two Kingdoms

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