First published 2024
A writer collapses from excruciating pain that brings him to his knees. He finds himself in the ICU, trapped within America's chaotic healthcare system. Confined to his hospital bed, he grapples with his failing body while his mind races to comprehend what's happening to him. He has spent years living primarily in his thoughts, but now his physical reality demands attention. Time stretches and compresses around him. Unexpected connections form with strangers. The hospital becomes a crucible where art, memory, poetry, music, and human care take on new meaning. His experience expands beyond the medical facility to reveal broader truths about shared human frailty, the boundaries of compassion, and America's broken promises. At its heart, this becomes an unlikely love story that emerges from the most vulnerable circumstances.
Genres: drama, literary-fiction, medical, contemporary, adult-fiction
Vibes: intimate, introspective, lyrical, meditative, thought-provoking, vulnerable
Tropes: found-family, transformative-crisis, unlikely-love-story, vulnerable-protagonist
Setting: America, ICU
Period: 21st-century
320 pages · Paperback · Picador
Content warnings: medical-trauma, mental-illness