Outerwear Edit from Shopbop
To share your reaction on this item, open the Amazon app from the App Store or Google Play on your phone.
Add Prime to get Fast, Free delivery
Amazon prime logo
Buy new:
-20% $20.01
FREE delivery Sunday, January 26 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Ships from: Amazon
Sold by: Starbook Store
$20.01 with 20 percent savings
List Price: $24.95
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Sunday, January 26 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or Prime members get FREE delivery Thursday, January 23. Order within 15 hrs 41 mins.
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$20.01 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$20.01
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon
Amazon
Ships from
Amazon
Returns
30-day refund/replacement
30-day refund/replacement
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$8.72
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Sunday, January 26 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Friday, January 24. Order within 18 hrs 56 mins
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$20.01 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$20.01
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness Hardcover – January 1, 2004

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 294 ratings

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$20.01","priceAmount":20.01,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"20","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"01","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"aDuyOi09OtugHGQ6KBM%2B8uNZ6BN51fIeDC03CgxKyOosRlkO062eKCIz0KTEvtv7Z5AAopnwSxs8oti8Lx5I3s6gFG%2FB28jvWCHuvEwXx1uh%2BMoQQi0ZK801joDZ%2F8arSFncCrvdlEcAlS1m6xoejCETAxJcbCNSEbctkTbswWIo6Ih6coMeus%2BID2QUzjab","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$8.72","priceAmount":8.72,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"8","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"72","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"aDuyOi09OtugHGQ6KBM%2B8uNZ6BN51fIehuKyYvyBicZNfakLlucHvcXxM7ZttHOm74pfgf0ZvNS0XtpXEVLuMmy968IQ%2Fop4qOXyFGeNpjrFhZRdqOHkWA%2FQqeugcS1qvDeSvc6%2F5KSzRW%2F92MfeR8%2BUe%2FgSVzgBx9Ex8wAQeYnN8FLssWAwk9cH%2FnvRY98A","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

An inspiring and profoundly enlightening exploration of one doctor’s discovery of how hope can change
the course of illness

Since the time of the ancient Greeks, human beings have believed that hope is essential to life. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Harvard Medical School professor and
New Yorker staff writer Jerome Groopman shows us why.

The search for hope is most urgent at the patient’s bedside.
The Anatomy of Hope takes us there, bringing us into the lives of people at pivotal moments when they reach for and find hope--or when it eludes their grasp. Through these intimate portraits, we learn how to distinguish true hope from false, why some people feel they are undeserving of it, and whether we should ever abandon our search.

Can hope contribute to recovery by changing physical well-being? To answer this hotly debated question, Groopman embarked on an investigative journey to cutting-edge laboratories where researchers are unraveling an authentic biology of hope. There he finds a scientific basis for understanding the role of this vital emotion in the outcome of illness.

Here is a book that offers a new way of thinking about hope, with a message for all readers, not only patients and their families. "We are just beginning to appreciate hope’s reach," Groopman writes, "and have not defined its limits. I see hope as the very heart of healing."
"Layla" by Colleen Hoover for $7.19
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover comes a novel that explores life after tragedy and the enduring spirit of love. | Learn more

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this provocative book, New Yorker staff writer and Harvard Medical School professor Groopman (Second Opinions; The Measure of Our Days) explores the way hope affects one's capacity to cope with serious illness. Drawing on his 30-year career in hematology and oncology, Groopman presents stories based on his patients and his own debilitating back injury. Through these moving if somewhat one-dimensional portraits, he reveals the role of memory, family and faith in hope and how they can influence healing by affecting treatment decisions and resilience. Sharing his own blunders and successes, Groopman underscores the power doctors and other health care providers have to instill or kill hope. He also explains that hope can be fostered without glossing over medical realities: "Hope... does not cast a veil over perception and thought. In this way, it is different from blind optimism: It brings reality into sharp focus." In the final chapters of the book, Groopman examines the existing science behind the mind-body connection by reviewing, for example, remarkable studies on the placebo effect. By the end of the book, Groopman successfully convinces that hope can offer not only solace but strength to those living with medical uncertainty.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From The New England Journal of Medicine

In this book, Jerome Groopman shares with readers what he has learned about the need to keep hope alive, especially in the face of serious illness. The key themes he explores are the extent to which hope features in the experience of patients with chronic and terminal illnesses; the importance of hope in enabling patients, families, friends, and physicians to meet the challenges of serious illness; the various forms that hope can take; and the role of the physician in fostering or at least not extinguishing hope. Groopman discusses these problems through a series of thoughtful case histories, which will doubtless resonate with both clinicians and nonmedical readers. He then adds a summary of some current research into the physiological basis of what we call hope. The brief foray into the scientific understanding of hope, though of some interest, is in many ways a diversion from the main focus of this thoughtful book. The Anatomy of Hope is not about the science of medicine but, instead, examines the art of medicine. Reading it, I had a strong sense that a driving force behind the writing of this book was the author's wish to speak directly to clinicians, specifically to those responsible -- especially through example -- for the education of future generations of doctors. Groopman has learned the hard way about the important role hope can have in the experience of illness, and he wants to share these lessons. Just as parents know how painful it can be to watch one's child learn through painful mistakes, experienced doctors realize that the art of medicine is rarely acquired without mistakes. Unfortunately, when doctors make errors, patients must also pay the price, and in appealing to doctors not to underestimate the part they can play in fostering hope, Groopman clearly believes that both doctors and patients have something to gain. Somewhat lost within the text of this lovely book is a chapter in which the author tells of his own painful experience of a temporary loss of hope, the result of debilitating back pain. This understated chapter would have merited placement at the forefront of the book with a clear statement about why it was included. If I had to guess, I would say that as a result of his experience, Groopman knows the dreadful price that patients can pay when hope is lost, and the pivotal role that physicians can have in fostering and restoring that hope. He knows how ill prepared young doctors are for this task, how deeply older physicians regret lost opportunities, and how grateful patients are when physicians care. Deborah Kirklin, M.B., B.Ch.
Copyright © 2004 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved. The New England Journal of Medicine is a registered trademark of the MMS.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House; First Edition (January 1, 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0375506381
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0375506383
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 1 year and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.3 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.13 x 9.63 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 294 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Jerome E. Groopman
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Jerome Groopman, M.D., holds the Dina and Raphael Recanati Chair of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and is chief of experimental medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. He has published more than 150 scientific articles. He is also a staff writer at The New Yorker and has written editorials on policy issues for the New Republic, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. His previous books include the New York Times bestseller The Anatomy of Hope, Second Opinions, and The Measure of Our Days. Groopman lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
294 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers

Customers say

Customers find the book insightful and inspiring. They describe it as a good read with excellent insights into patient needs and desires. Readers praise the author's honesty and well-written writing style.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Select to learn more
38 customers mention "Insight"38 positive0 negative

Customers find the book insightful and thought-provoking. They say it's relevant and helpful for those suffering from serious medical conditions. The case studies are described as exquisite dioramas of people struggling to make decisions. The book helps readers find faith to cope with treatments and challenges.

"...of aspiring doctors and support medical staff, he examines the different aspects of hope and how various support roles involving self-awareness,..." Read more

"...me a lot of hope about the mind/body connection & the power of the body to heal itself.Definitely worth reading...." Read more

"We know hope impacts one's emotions. But it also affects our physical being. I bought this book to learn about the BIOLOGY of hope...." Read more

"I read this book with great interest and attention. I was appreciative of both the writing skills of Dr. Groopman and the contents of his book...." Read more

34 customers mention "Readability"34 positive0 negative

Customers find the book readable and insightful. They appreciate the author's storytelling and personal experiences. The writing is well-crafted and easy to follow.

"...This easy-to-read and understand treatise is a useful reference to anybody facing such challenges or helping others do so." Read more

"...Definitely worth reading...." Read more

"...I bought this book to learn about the BIOLOGY of hope. Written by an oncologist and citing actual patient cases (mostly cancer), Dr. Groopman..." Read more

"An excellent account of an oncologist's own experience,during his multiple years of training and practice, with a description of actual cases and..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2024
    My orthopedist recommended this publication as a means of helping me and others I work with address life's medical adversities, whether they be large or small. Using case studies from real-world experiences, the author navigates the reader through his own learning on the non-medical aspects of hope. Written for the benefit of aspiring doctors and support medical staff, he examines the different aspects of hope and how various support roles involving self-awareness, friendships, family, religion and the medical community can change a patient's medical outcome and outlook. This easy-to-read and understand treatise is a useful reference to anybody facing such challenges or helping others do so.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2004
    If I had to sum up THE ANATOMY OF HOPE in one sentence, this would be it: this amazing book will make you sing. I would have finished it the day it arrived in the mail had I not had a house guest I had to tend to. After finishing the book the next night, I was so hyped up that I couldn't go to sleep for hours. I wanted to give it to everyone I care about, including my doctor.
    Dr. Groopman discusses hope and its impact on the ability of patients to fight serious, sometimes life-threatening illnesses. He gives the examples of several patients of his over the years and the effect that hope had on their recovery from illness. He also traces his own growth in helping patients. Dr. Groopman learns how to relate to patients through trial and error. "I was still feeling my way on how to communicate a poor prognosis to patients and their families. Not once during my schooling, internship, or residency had I been instructed in the skill." The first patient he discusses, Esther, he saw while he was still a medical student. She believed she deserved to have breast cancer because she had had an extra-marital affair. He later learned that she sought treatment too late and died at the age of thirty-four. Dr. Groopman assists another doctor with the treatment of the second patient. She interprets "remission" as a cure for a serious malignancy. The other physician had given her part of the truth but not the whole truth. When she ultimately learns she is dying, she and her family are angry at the doctor. "I guess he [the doctor] doesn't think people like us are smart enough, or strong enough, to handle the truth."
    Along Dr. Groopman's journey, he encounters a physician patient who insists on a difficult and painful treatment that Dr. Groopman didn't recommend. This patient was alive many years after his cure. "It took George Griffin [the doctor patient] to teach me that omniscience about life and death is not within a physician's purview. A doctor should never write off a person a priori." There is a Vietnam veteran seriously ill with a cancer that calls for immediate treatment or he will surely die. The patient is obstinate about not having therapy, that it will not work. Dr. Groopman is able to bargain with him. The patient has the right to stop treatment at any time and must understand that he is in the "driver's seat" all the way.
    The most poignant patient for me was Barbara, a 67 year-old woman whose breast cancer has metastasized. We meet her in the chapter called "Undying Hope." The good doctor probably would say that he learns far more from her than she gets from him although he of course gives the patient his best. After many months of harrowing treatment, she does not want to stop, however. "'There are many moments during the day that still give me pleasure,'she said. 'Let's keep going.'" The moment comes when the doctor must tell Barbara that there is nothing else he can offer to help her. After "heavy silence," she responds that he can still give her the "medicine of friendship." The patient ultimately dies. "Although I had expected this outcome for quite some time, I felt a gnawing pain of loss. I accepted that medicine had its limits. It was just that I cared for her so much; it was impossible not to. But I also felt deep gratitude. Barbara had opened herself to me in a way no patient had before. A patient's revelation of her deepest feelings and thoughts is one of the most previous gifts a doctor can receive. It has happened with me when I have reached the level of relationship I did with Barbara, of friendship beyond the professional." And finally, "there are some patients whom a doctor grows to love. . . Barbara had sparked that love in me."
    The author is not talking here about false hope, denial or the information that the Louise Hays of the world dispense when they blame the victim, that patients who don't get better have a need not to and are weak individuals. I still remember someone saying about a friend with AIDS in the 80's who had come down with pneumonia: "I refuse to go to see him because he had a need to get pneumonia." (This kind of thinking is maddening.) The author gives us hard data and looks at the changes in the brain when we have hope: "It turns out that we have our own natural forms of morphine--within our brains are chemicals akin to opiates. These chemicals are called 'endorphins' and 'enkephalins.' Belief and expectation, cardinal components of hope, can block pain by releasing the brain's endorphins and enkephalins, thereby mimicking the effects of morphine."
    Dr. Groopman is obviously a brilliant and competent practitioner, but he is also wise beyond measure. "I try hard to let patients read in my eyes that there is true hope for them. . . Doctors are fallible, not only in how they wield a scalpel or prescribe a drug but in the language they use." So much wisdom here, much about faith and how it differs from hope. At one point the doctor says that hope has wings. I wonder if he knew that the poet Emily Dickinson said that "hope is the thing with feathers."
    I repeat: this amazing book will make you sing.
    59 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2013
    I bought this book after recently being diagnosed with a brain tumor. At this point, too small to tell if it's benign or malignant. Another scan due in August. Before reading the book,and having the diagnosis, I always thought quality of life was more important than quantity.I am a nurse too. I always thought if I was diagnosed with stage 4 anything,(last stage)I would opt to do nothing. Just enjoy the time I had left, the best I could. But now after reading the book, I think I might seek aggressive treatment in hopes I could be like the occasional person who survives for years in spite of the odds against them. Some of them even cured. I think what each one of us has to ask ourselves if we are faced with a terminal diagnosis, am I up for the fight? It will take quite a bit of suffering to find out if you may be the exception,not everyone has the strength to do this. And even after aggressive treatment & a positive mind set, the person may still not survive. The book gave me a lot of hope about the mind/body connection & the power of the body to heal itself.Definitely worth reading. The fear you have when you find out you have possible terminal disease is overwhelming, but what my Dr said to me helped so much "just take one day @ a time" It has been a month since my diagnosis, & I am feeling better but I still have my moments, but then when I get afraid or depressed, I think, hey I am alive, still enjoying my life. There are so many others in this world so much worse off than I am. Hope is the most important thing there is besides Love. Don't let anyone take your hope away.
    25 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2015
    We know hope impacts one's emotions. But it also affects our physical being. I bought this book to learn about the BIOLOGY of hope. Written by an oncologist and citing actual patient cases (mostly cancer), Dr. Groopman explores the role of hope in fighting disease and healing.

    The latter part of the book interested me the most. It documents the positive physiological responses evoked by hope. Top scientists are interviewed who study the biological link between emotion and biological responses. The most relevant studies on the subject are reviewed. We learn that there's more to hope than we thought. Hope triggers biochemical changes. Biochemical changes can fight disease.

    Dr Groopman shows how hope, belief and expectations can alter the course of our lives, and even of our physical body. Good news for any patient dealing with a serious health condition.

    We recommend this book to readers on our website, Atrial Fibrillation: Resources for Patients, A-Fib.com on our 'A-Fib Positive Thoughts & Prayer Group' page (http://a-fib.com/a-fib-prayer-group/).

    Patti Ryan
    Editor and Publisher, A-Fib.com

    The Healing Power of Thoughts and Prayer
    12 people found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
  • Kumar
    5.0 out of 5 stars Special of the book
    Reviewed in India on January 20, 2019
    Vividly illustrates the events
  • ScottyDoug
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 4, 2018
    Interesting read
  • Barnswallow
    5.0 out of 5 stars For Those Lookin for Hope
    Reviewed in Canada on August 16, 2013
    Should you find yourself in the situation of a medical catastrophe, such as I have, this wonderful text is just what you need to determine if "hope" is right for you.

    Well done Jerome Groopman and thank you very much
  • はなちゃん
    5.0 out of 5 stars Letters to Samで紹介されていた本
    Reviewed in Japan on July 29, 2010
    ダニエル・ゴットリーブというアメリカの心理学者の"Letters to Sam"というエッセイ集(邦訳『人生という名の手紙』)で紹介されていた本です。

    ハーバード大学の血液内科・腫瘍学(結局、さまざまなタイプの癌の治療が中心)の大家が、その臨床経験を通じて、患者の治癒に「希望」という「非科学的なもの?」が果たす役割に気づき、自分の体験も含めて医学的な目から記した著書です。

    医療関係者の方々にも、是非読んでいただきたいですが、一歩間違えば絶望が待っている、現代社会で生きるすべての人に、本物の「希望」とは何かを考えるために読んでほしい本です。

    医学用語も出てきますから、辞書は手放せませんが、英語の文体自体は、さすがお医者様。明快で読みやすいです。
  • Dr.Jithesh P.M
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in India on September 9, 2015
    Worth reading