'We are just beginning to appreciate hope's reach and have not defined its limits. I see hope as the very heart of healing.' So writes Jerome Groopman, who has been a doctor for almost thirty years. In this unique book he describes the astonishing effects that hope, or the lack of it, can have on an illness. As a patient, he has also learned to overcome cynicism and defeatism and embrace hope. Here, with great wisdom and compassion, he reveals what he has learned about hope and its ability to triumph over disease, both emotionally and physically. The search for hope is most urgent at a 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 everyone deserves to have hope, and whether we should ever give up. Fascinating, wise and inspiring, this is an essential book for anyone facing serious illness or who is dealing with a loved one in extremis.