''The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness'' is a 2003 book by

Jerome Groopman Jerome E. Groopman has been a staff writer in medicine and biology for ''The New Yorker'' since 1998. He is also the Dina and Raphael Recanati Chair of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Chief of Experimental Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Me ...

. The book was first published in hardback on December 23, 2003 through

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

and deals with the subject of hope and its effect on illnesses.

Synopsis

In the book Groopman investigates how hope affects human beings that are either undergoing medical care or have a family member that is critically ill. He distinguishes the differences between the types of hope, such as whether or not someone is experiencing false or true hope. For the book, Groopman visits several laboratories that are researching the biological basis of hope to discover whether or not hope can scientifically change someone's physical well-being.

Reception

Critical reception for ''Anatomy of Hope'' has been positive. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' praised Groopman for never definitively defining hope in the book, as they felt that this made the work succeed that much more in making its point.

Adaptation

In 2007 HBO began work on a television series based upon the book with screenwriters

Rafael Yglesias Rafael Yglesias is an American novelist and screenwriter best known for his novels, Hide Fox, And All After, A Happy Marriage, and the 1993 movie '' Fearless'', which he adapted from his own novel of the same name. He is the father of Nicholas an ...

and

Tom Schulman Thomas H. Schulman (born October 20, 1951) is an American screenwriter best known for his semi-autobiographical screenplay ''Dead Poets Society'' based on his time at the Montgomery Bell Academy (MBA), a college-preparatory day school located i ...

. The series, which would have been produced and directed by

J. J. Abrams Jeffrey Jacob Abrams (born June 27, 1966) is an American filmmaker and composer. He is best known for his works in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and produced such films as '' Regarding Henry'' (1991), '' F ...

, would have been a medical drama. A pilot episode was created and starred

John Ortiz John Ortiz (born May 23, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for his antagonist role as Arturo Braga in ''Fast & Furious'' (2009) and ''Fast & Furious 6'' (2013), and Clyde in ''Jack Goes Boating'' (2010), which earned him a nomination for t ...

Simon Callow Simon Phillip Hugh Callow (born 15 June 1949) is an English film, television and voice actor, director, narrator and writer. He was twice nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his roles in ''A Room with a View'' (19 ...

, and

Valarie Pettiford Valarie Pettiford (born July 8, 1960) is an American stage and television actress, dancer, and jazz singer. She received a Tony Award nomination for her role in the broadway production '' Fosse''. She is also known for her role as "Big Dee Dee" ...

, but the series was never picked up.

References

{{Reflist 2003 non-fiction books Health and wellness books Random House books