A chemistry student falls for his teacher and uncovers a centuries-old quest for the elixir of life The morning after the death of his first love, Conrad Aybinder receives a bequest. Sammy Tampari was Conrad’s lover. He was his teacher. And, it turns out, he was not just a chemist, but an alchemist, searching for a mythic elixir of life. Sammy’s death was sudden, yet he somehow managed to leave twenty years’ worth of his notebooks and a storage locker full of expensive, sometimes baffling equipment in the hands of his star student. The notebooks contain cryptic “recipes,” but no instructions; they tell his life story, but only hint at what might have caused his death. And Sammy’s research is littered with his favorite teaching question: What’s missing? As Conrad pieces together the solution, he finds he is not the only one to suspect that Sammy succeeded in his quest. And if he wants to save his father from a mysterious illness, Conrad will have to make some very difficult choices. A globe-trotting, century-spanning adventure story, Jake Wolff’s The History of Living Forever takes us from Maine to Romania to Easter Island and introduces a cast of unforgettable characters—drug kingpins, Big Pharma flunkies, centenarians, boy geniuses, and even a group of immortalists masquerading as coin collectors. It takes us deep into the mysteries of life—from first love to first heartbreak, from the long pall of grief to the irreconcilable loneliness of depression to the possibility of medical miracles, from coming of age to coming out. Hilarious, haunting, heart-busting, life-affirming, it asks each of us one of life’s essential questions: How far would you go for someone you love?

In this “ingenious, funny, and chilling” novel (Publishers Weekly, starred review) from the author of Spaceman of Bohemia, two long-lost siblings risk everything to save their mother from oblivion in an authoritarian near-future America obsessed with digital consciousness and eternal life—a story that “packs a walloping punch” (Esquire). When Adéla discovers she has a terminal illness, she leaves behind her native Czech village for a chance at reuniting in America with Tereza, the daughter she gave up at birth, decades earlier. But the country Adéla experienced as a young woman, when she eloped with a filmmaker and starred in his cult sci-fi movie, has changed entirely. In 2030, America is ruled by an authoritarian government increasingly closed off to the rest of the world. Tereza, the star researcher for VITA, a biotech company hellbent on discovering the key to immortality, is overjoyed to meet her mother, with whom she forms an instant, profound connection. But when their time together is cut short by shocking events, Tereza must uncover VITA’s alarming activity in the wastelands of what was once Florida, and persuade the Czech brother she’s never met to join her in this odds-defying adventure. Narrated from the beyond by Adéla’s restless spirit, A Brief History of Living Forever is a high-wire act of storytelling from a writer “booming with vitality and originality,” whose “voice is distinct enough to leave tread marks” (New York Times). By turns insightful, moving, and funny, the novel not only confirms Jaroslav Kalfař’s boundless powers of invention but also exults in the love between a mother and her daughter, which neither space nor time can sever. “Kalfař is a wise, rapturous, and original writer . . . Eloquent, heart-stunning, and rich in awe-inspiring prose.” —San Francisco Chronicle “Relentlessly inventive . . . His writing has the same hyperactivity and fidgety contempt for generic boundaries as that of the young Safran Foer.” —The Guardian

An exploration of one of the most universal human obsessions charts the rise of longevity science from its alchemical beginnings to modern-day genetic interventions and enters the world of those whose lives are shaped by a belief in immortality.

There is a cloud-capped peak where gods and immortals while away their infinite days, and since the dawn of humanity everyone - whether they know it or not - has been trying to climb that mountain. But there are only four paths up its treacherous slope. Throughout history, people have wagered everything on their choice and fought wars against those who've decided differently. Each of these four paths - simply staying alive indefinitely, through magic or medicine; being resurrected; persisting as a soul; or living on through one's legacy - is revealed to us by a historical figure who serves as our guide. It is through these diverse individuals - such as the Egyptian queen Nefertiti; vitamin-obsessed Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling; author Mary Shelley; and Alexander the Great - that we come to understand how many of civilisation's greatest achievements have been born of our need to see our essence endure. As optimistic about the human condition as it is insightful, Immortality takes the reader on an eye-opening journey from the beginnings of civilisation to the present day. Bringing together history and philosophy, this fascinating book both enlightens and entertains, investigating whether it just might be possible to live forever, and whether that's something we should actually aspire to. But its most powerful and arresting argument is this - that it is our very preoccupation with defying mortality that has made our civilisation what it is.

From award-winning author Sally Nicholls, her debut novel about a boy's last months with leukemia.1. My name is Sam.2. I am eleven years old.3. I collect stories and fantastic facts.4. I have leukemia.5. By the time you read this, I will probably be dead.Living through the final stages of leukemia, Sam collects stories, questions, lists, and pictures that create a profoundly moving portrait of how a boy lives when he knows his time is almost up.

A holistic health coach and motivational speaker shares his ten-step program for living longer, living stronger, and living happier Who wouldn't like to feel better and look better? Feel younger and look younger? Live and connect with others more fully and with more energy? Join Skip Archimedes, holistic health coach and inspirational speaker, as he leads you through the ten key steps to living long, living strong and living happy. How often do you feel sick and tired of feeling sick and tired? This book will allow you to set yourself free in a body and mind that you can feel proud of again, and in which you can go on all kinds of amazing adventures. Learn to get out of your head and back into your body, relax and play more, feel lighter and more open, and really get the most out of life—not just physically, but also mentally, emotionally and spiritually. After an introduction on what “living forever young” really means and Skip’s inspirational backstory, the ten main chapters then begin: Breathe, Move, Nourish, Rest, Love, Shine, Believe, Learn, Commit and Live. In addition to a wide range of valuable information backed up by insights from leading experts, each chapter includes a host of practical well-being suggestions based on both Western and Eastern practices. Each chapter then ends with a request for the reader to list the main ways in which they will “live” this “secret” from here on in.

So easily could one imagine this story infused with the rich detail of character, setting, and motivation that would transform it into a memorable work of brilliant insight. --Clarion Review Throughout this compelling story, Fawcett makes fascinating inquiries about life, evolution and the true nature of man, proving that with all of our technology, the human mind still remains the most powerful and mysterious tool. --Kirkus Review Faced with imminent death after a grim cancer diagnosis, sixty-eight-year-old Dr. Ian Farrell decides that he and his wife, Caitlin, should live life fully and appreciate every moment he has left together. After Ian and Caitlin return to Chicago from a spontaneous trip to Santa Fe, Ian has no idea that he will soon have a tempting carrot dangled in front of his nose: the chance to live forever. When Ian lands back in the hospital for more tests, two agents from a governmental research agency ask him to submit to an attempted transfer of his mind to an electronic chip. With very little time left to live, Ian accepts. He flies to Project Phoenix the next day with Caitlin and Colonel "Wild Bill" Clausen, the head of Project Phoenix. After he bids his wife good-bye, Ian swears his allegiance to the United States, lies on a table, and heads into the bowels of a machine that will change his destiny forever. In this intriguing novel, a dying man now left with nothing but his consciousness must create a new identity and partner with a brilliant neurophysicist in order to save humankind from a destructive technology.