Undying

A Novel

Fiction & Literature, Literary
Cover of the book Undying by Todd Gitlin, Counterpoint
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Author: Todd Gitlin ISBN: 9781582438702
Publisher: Counterpoint Publication: February 10, 2011
Imprint: Counterpoint Language: English
Author: Todd Gitlin
ISBN: 9781582438702
Publisher: Counterpoint
Publication: February 10, 2011
Imprint: Counterpoint
Language: English
November 2004: George W. Bush is re-elected. Five days later, Alan Meister, a New York professor of philosophy, is diagnosed with lymphoma-not that he can prove the two are connected. While coping with the rigors of chemotherapy, Alan begins work on a long-postponed book titled The Health of a Sick Man, arguing that the core of Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophical thought was a decades-long attempt to cope with his lifelong incapacities-his blinding headaches, upset stomach, weak vision, and all-around frailty, not least his vexed relations with women. As Alan’s treatment proceeds, he finds relief by imagining Nietzsche not as a historical figure, but as a character in his daily life, a reminder that his own heart continues to beat.

Rooted in the author’s personal experience with lymphoma, this novel is a compound of reminiscences, aphorisms, anecdotes, and encounters: with Alan’s errant daughter Natasha, who has returned home to help care for him; with mortal friends; with a mysterious hospital roommate; with students; with contemporary life as it reaches him through the newspapers and his readings. Steady, spare, and often bracingly funny, Undying cries out in a robust voice: I am.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
November 2004: George W. Bush is re-elected. Five days later, Alan Meister, a New York professor of philosophy, is diagnosed with lymphoma-not that he can prove the two are connected. While coping with the rigors of chemotherapy, Alan begins work on a long-postponed book titled The Health of a Sick Man, arguing that the core of Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophical thought was a decades-long attempt to cope with his lifelong incapacities-his blinding headaches, upset stomach, weak vision, and all-around frailty, not least his vexed relations with women. As Alan’s treatment proceeds, he finds relief by imagining Nietzsche not as a historical figure, but as a character in his daily life, a reminder that his own heart continues to beat.

Rooted in the author’s personal experience with lymphoma, this novel is a compound of reminiscences, aphorisms, anecdotes, and encounters: with Alan’s errant daughter Natasha, who has returned home to help care for him; with mortal friends; with a mysterious hospital roommate; with students; with contemporary life as it reaches him through the newspapers and his readings. Steady, spare, and often bracingly funny, Undying cries out in a robust voice: I am.

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