Incurable Optimist

Starred review from May 15, 2023
Cramer-Miller debuts with a knockout memoir on living with a life-threatening kidney disease. In 1987, Cramer-Miller was 22 and living with a friend in Seattle, excited to embark on life after college. Seeking treatment for symptoms of fatigue and skin puffiness, she’s diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, which causes inflammation in the kidneys’ filters (since then she has had four kidney transplants, with a fifth on the way). Early in the course of the illness, words from her father and a stack of self-help books nudge Cramer-Miller toward positive thinking, which becomes a “lifelong tool” tested by her rare complications of the condition, including hair loss. Cramer-Miller’s optimism is measured—she concedes she’s not blind to the risks of the disease—and all the more moving for it. “Perhaps the inevitability of death is the best motivation for living a good life. Every day. Right now,” she muses. The existence of this openhearted memoir, which will touch anyone who’s ever known someone with a chronic illness or struggled with one themselves, is proof of her concept. There’s plenty of wisdom in these pages.