An Exercise in Uncertainty - by Jonathan Gluck (Hardcover)

About the Book

"At age thirty-eight, Jonathan Gluck, a new father with a promising journalism career, was shocked to learn he had multiple myeloma, a rare, incurable blood cancer. He was told he had eighteen months to live. That was more than twenty years ago. Gluck isn't just something of a medical miracle. He's also part of a growing population. Thanks to revolutionary medical advances, many cancers and other serious illnesses are no longer death sentences, but chronic diseases people can often live with for years. While doctors continue to look for "magic-bullet" cures, they can now extend patients' lives by slowing the progression of their diseases one treatment at a time. The result is a strange, new no-man's land between being sick and being well where Gluck and millions of others reside. In An Exercise in Uncertainty, Gluck maps this previously uncharted territory. Among the many vexing side effects of chronic illness he explores is uncertainty-never knowing from one day to the next how one's illness might change them physically, emotionally, spiritually. When you have an incurable disease, how do you cope with knowing that even when you're in remission, it will eventually return? How do you live with the anxiety, the fear, the near-constant awareness of your mortality? For Gluck, one surprising answer is fly fishing. If you're looking for peace in your own sea of uncertainty, it might be something else. As Gluck will be the first to say, cancer has absolutely nothing good to offer, but almost dying has taught him valuable lessons about how to live"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

In this thought-provoking memoir, an award-winning journalist explores the chaos, doubt, and search for meaning that come with staying one step ahead of cancer for decades.

"An Exercise in Uncertainty has a powerful and restorative story to tell us. Jonathan Gluck's life of illness and survival is a vital primer for us all--a lesson in how to face and comprehend two of the basic facts that render us human: We die, but much more important, we live."--Richard Ford

"Navigates the dire straits of mortality with eloquence, wit, and intelligence."--Susan Orlean

At age thirty-eight, Jonathan Gluck, a new father with a promising journalism career, was shocked to learn he had multiple myeloma, a rare, incurable blood cancer. He was told he had eighteen months to live.

That was more than twenty years ago.

Gluck isn't just something of a medical miracle. He's also part of a growing population. Thanks to revolutionary medical advances, many cancers and other serious illnesses are no longer death sentences but chronic diseases people can often live with for years. While doctors continue to look for "magic bullet" cures, they can now extend patients' lives by slowing the progression of their diseases one treatment at a time. The result is a strange, new no-man's-land between being sick and being well where Gluck and millions of others reside.

In An Exercise in Uncertainty, Gluck maps this previously uncharted territory. Among the many vexing side effects of chronic illness he explores is uncertainty--never knowing from one day to the next how one's illness might change them physically, emotionally, spiritually. When you have an incurable disease, how do you cope with knowing that even when you're in remission, it will eventually return? How do you live with the anxiety, the fear, the near-constant awareness of your mortality? For Gluck, one surprising answer is fly-fishing. If you're looking for peace in your own sea of uncertainty, it might be something else.

As Gluck will be the first to say, cancer has absolutely nothing good to offer, but almost dying has taught him valuable lessons about how to live.

Review Quotes

"An Exercise in Uncertainty has a powerful and restorative story to tell us. Gluck's life of illness and survival is a vital primer for us all--a lesson in how to face and comprehend two of the basic facts that render us human: we die; but much more importantly, we live."--Richard Ford

"Navigates the dire straits of mortality with eloquence, wit, and intelligence."--Susan Orlean, New York Times bestselling author of The Library Book

"Gluck has turned the brutal limbo of chronic illness into a smart, warm memoir of his struggle with fear and grief."--Ada Calhoun, New York Times bestselling author of Why We Can't Sleep

"Examines one of life's greatest challenges with insight and clarity, humility and unvarnished candor, tears and rage, and--amazingly--humor and hope."--Robert Kolker, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Valley Road

"Gluck's perfectly conveyed story of managing life on the edge of death will orient and reorient you in your own humanity. He is a gift. This is a gift."--Kelly Corrigan, New York Times bestselling author and host of Kelly Corrigan Wonders

"A textured and wonderfully honest story about what it means to be alive."--Jennifer Senior, winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing and author of the New York Times bestseller All Joy and No Fun

"An Exercise in Uncertainty is an exercise in compassion--for anyone whose life has been impacted by a devastating illness. For everyone else, the words on these pages are a somber reminder that none of us is immune to the unexpected, and there is nothing more precious than life itself."--Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN chief medical correspondent, New York Times bestselling author, and practicing neurosurgeon

"Sure-footedly, Jonathan Gluck wades deep into the swirling currents of chronic disease and returns ashore with a story of authentic hope for our information-addled, uncertain age. At the center of this fine memoir, the reader encounters a rare calm, something akin to grace, that is vital to our collective survival."--Chris Dombrowski, author of The River You Touch

"If you are going through a chronic illness or know someone who is, this is a memoir that will give you hope and guidance. Gluck perseveres through endless setbacks and frustrations with what seems like superhuman optimism."--Tom Rosenbauer, fly-fishing author and podcaster

About the Author

Jonathan Gluck is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in The New York Times and The Washington Post. He was deputy editor of New York magazine for ten years, after which he worked as managing editor of Vogue. His work has been recognized with multiple National Magazine Awards.