The Undying: Vulnerability, Mortality, Medicine, Art, Time, Dreams, Data, Exhaustion, Cancer, and Care

In her early forties, writer Anne Boyer is diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease that leads Boyer to begin even more aggressive chemotherapy treatment. In The Undying, Boyer reflects on her experiences with thoughtful and incisive commentary on cancer’s place in a patriarchal, capitalist society. As she engages with hallmark writing and scholarship on breast cancer and the nature of pain and illness, Boyer complicates and deepens how we think about illness and the “carcinogenosphere” in which we live.

The Undying is an accomplished and important volume, and its depth of insight makes clear why it won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction. Boyer’s memoir is the rare cancer narrative that is free of cliché and instead questions pink-ribbon capitalism, cancer stories that leave cancer patients voiceless, and the environmental and financial impact of cancer and its treatment. Filled with both personal reflection and far-reaching analysis, The Undying is essential reading for those looking to understand what it means to be ill in today’s world.