Strong at the Broken Places: Voices of Illness, A Chorus of Hope

(Paperback)

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Description

The bestselling author of Blindsided, Richard M. Cohen spent three years chronicling the lives of five diverse "citizens of sickness": Denise, who suffers from ALS; Buzz, whose Christian faith helps him deal with his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; Sarah, a determined young woman with Crohn's disease; Ben, a college student with muscular dystrophy; and Larry, whose bipolar disorder is hidden within. Differing in age and gender, race and economic status, all five are determined to live life on their own terms. In Strong at the Broken Places, Cohen shares these inspirational and revealing stories, which offer lessons for us allon self-determination, on courage in the face of adversity and public ignorance, on keeping hope alive.

We are all strong at the broken placesstronger than we think.

Reviews

"Extraordinary." -- Larry King, Larry King Live

"Career journalist Cohen doesn't flinch from probing for truth about relationships, money, fear, and death....One only hopes that, with their group presentation to a class of Harvard medical students, these five taught young medicos as much as they could teach Cohen and, through him, us." -- Booklist

"The strength of these profiles derives from Cohen's focus on chronic illnesses that, as he notes, are not "sexy" and generally "do not resolve themselves"....these are stories dense with quotidian details." -- Washington Post

"This unusual book gives a voice to the voiceless--the chronically disabled who, in our health-conscious society, are defined by their disease....In this advocacy book, written like a personal journal, Cohen tells their stories....Strong at the Broken Places ends on a note of hope." -- Providence Journal

Author Bio

Richard M. Cohen is the author of the New York Times bestseller BLINDSIDED. His distinguished career in journalism earned him three Emmy awards and numerous other journalistic awards. He lives in New York City with his wife, Today Show host Meredith Vieira, and their three children.