In the Body of the World: A Memoir of Cancer and Connection

The bestselling author of The Vagina Monologues shares her “extraordinarily riveting, graphic story of survival” (Publishers Weekly).

In this extraordinary and evocative memoir, playwright, author, and activist V, formerly Eve Ensler, traces many paths of reconnection: with her body, after she is diagnosed with cancer; with the people of the world, in the face of injustice and abuse; and with the earth, victim of mass exploitation.

Working in the Congo, V meets survivors of horrific rape and violence and sees firsthand how these women are creating hope and possibility out of horror. Just as she is about to help open a revolutionary leadership center called City of Joy, she is diagnosed with uterine cancer, resulting in months of difficult treatment. Through her experience, V is forced to become first and foremost a body—pricked, punctured, cut, scanned. As she recovers from her illness, V is able to let go of everything that doesn’t matter and find strength in what does.

In the Body of the World is a haunting, revelatory work that calls on us to reestablish our connection to our bodies, to the world, and to those around us.

Praise for In the Body of the World

“Warm, funny, furious, and astute, as well as poetic, passionate, and heroic, Ensler harnesses all that she lost and learned to articulate a galvanizing vision of the essence of life: ‘The only salvation is kindness.’ . . . [A] scorching and enlightening memoir.” —Booklist (starred review)

“A necessary book to read for its fierce, passionate commitment to making the world a safe place for women.” —The Boston Globe

© 2024 Metropolitan Books (Ebook): 9780805095241

Release date

Ebook: 26 March 2024