No Cure for Being Human (and Other Truths I Need to Hear)

The bestselling author of Everything Happens for a Reason (And Other Lies I've Loved) asks, how do you move forward with a life you didn't choose?

Hailed by Glennon Doyle as 'the Christian Joan Didion', Kate Bowler used to accept the modern idea that life is an endless horizon of possibilities, a series of choices which if made correctly, would bring us to a place just out of reach. A beach body by summer. A trip to Disneyland around the corner. A promotion on the horizon. But then at thirty-five she was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer, and now she has to ask one of the most fundamental questions of all: How do we create meaning in our lives when the life we hoped for is put on hold indefinitely?

In No Cure for Being Human, Kate searches for a way forward as she mines the wisdom (and absurdity) of our modern 'best life now' advice industry, which offers us exhausting positivity, trying to convince us that we can out-eat, out-learn and out-perform our humanness. With dry wit and unflinching honesty she grapples with her cancer diagnosis, her ambition and her faith and searches for some kind of peace with her limitations in a culture that says that anything is possible.

Frank and funny, dark and wise, Kate's irreverent, hard-won observations in No Cure For Being Human chart a bold path toward learning new ways to live.

A breathtaking, utterly beautiful memoir about what it means to be human. No Cure for Being Human reminds us of all the horrors and beauty of this precious life. Kate Bowler is an incredible writer with something important to tell us. I'll be pressing this book into the hands of everyone I know, and I'll be hugging my kids so hard tonight too. ― Christie Watson, bestselling author of The Language of Kindness and The Courage to Care

I began reading No Cure for Being Human after dinner one evening and didn't move until I finished the last gorgeous page. As I finally put this masterpiece down, I thought: Kate Bowler is the only one we can trust to tell us the truth. Bowler is a prophet and her new offering is another true gift to the world. This book will open minds and warm hearts. ― Glennon Doyle, bestselling author of Untamed

This is a remarkably poignant memoir about what it means to be human. With grace, wisdom, and humour, Kate Bowler encourages us to cut back on self-help Kool-Aid and teaches us how to make more of our lives. ― Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Think Again

In a culture that asks us to constantly strive and improve, Kate Bowler recognises that our own pain is neither an aberration nor an opportunity but a fact of life. There is nobody on earth who sees our humanity quite like Kate Bowler. ― Nora McInerny, creator and host of the podcast Terrible, Thanks for Asking

Heartbreaking ... a breathtaking narrative ― Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Kate Bowler is the NYT bestselling author of Everything Happens for a Reason and her TED talk on the topic has over 9 million views to date. She hosts the popular podcast 'Everything Happens' and has previously appeared on NPR, Today, New York Times, Washington Post and Time.

Kate is an Associate Professor of the History of Christianity in North America at Duke Divinity School. She lives in Durham, North Carolina, with her husband, Toban, and son, Zach.