About the book: Dancing at the River’s Edge is a unique dual memoir by Alida Brill, author, social activist, and critic, who has endured an incurable illness throughout most of her life, and her doctor, Michael D. Lockshin, M.D., a leading expert on autoimmune diseases in women, who has treated Ms. Brill for over thirty years. Both authors offer a powerful and inspirational testimony from either side of the examination table that speaks directly and honestly to those who deal with being on the “other planet” that is the reality of the chronically ill, as well as those who care for and give care to the millions of people struggling day to day with this condition.

Available in eBook, hard cover, and paperback editions: Amazon or Barnes & Noble or your local bookstore.

What others have said:
“An extraordinary meditation on illness a poetic, powerful and groundbreaking work that illuminates the resilience and strength of the human spirit. A remarkable book.”
—Dave Isay, Founder & President, StoryCorps, and editor, Listening Is an Act of Love

“I can tell you firsthand, being a nurse and reading this book, I have deep gratitude for your honesty, your way of teaching people to be able to communicate with their doctors, and the fact that you had so much courage.”
—Bonnie Hunt, actress, entertainer, and former nurse when co-author Alida Brill appeared on “The Bonnie Hunt Show.”

“[Brill’s and Lockshin’s] writings are poetic, revealing, insightful, and at times shocking in their honest and frank discussion of aspects of chronic disease that are rarely brought out into the open.”
—The New England Journal of Medicine, 8/09

“The book doesn’t just tell Brill’s story; it tells her doctor’s, too. Co-written by [Dr. Lockshin] the New York rheumatologist, the chapters alternate between his and her points of view…. [T]hey hope DANCING AT THE RIVER’S EDGE will help young doctors learn to avoid what Lockshin calls ‘white coat syndrome’…. Patients can learn from the book….how to embrace life.”
—Los Angeles Daily News

“Alida Brill has a fiendishly unpredictable autoimmune disease, and her collaborator, Michael D. Lockshin, M.D., deftly helps her manage it without violating her autonomy. Dr. Lockshin respects his patient and is humbled by her vexing illness, and his respect and humility serve him well…. Alida smoothly describes what it’s like to be chronically ill yet alive. Through victories and setbacks, the reader learns that if one gets a chronic disease, pick a human being who happens to be a doctor to help you.”—Psychiatric Services: The Journal of the American Psychiatric Association.

“DANCING AT THE RIVER’S EDGE is about the trials and tribulations of chronic disease you won’t be able to put it down once you pick it up.”
—Paul A. Volcker, former Federal Reserve Chairman

“A deeply personal exploration on both sides of the medical scene the patient who suffers and strives to retain her ‘self,’ and the physician who struggles to maintain a balance between knowing the truth while attempting to understand its implications.”
—Virginia Ladd, President and Executive Director, American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association

“Whether you are doctor or patient, you see a bit of yourself in [this book]…. It demonstrates how profound the bond between doctor and patient can be—and how much power it imparts.”
—Susan Golick, Founder and Vice President, S.L.E. Lupus Foundation

“A book unlike any other; this slim volume probes the intricacies of a magical relationship, that of a patient with her doctor. A heart-wrenching dialogue that carries profound and life-altering insights for us all.”
—Dr. David Sachar, Head of Gastroenterology, Mt. Sinai Hospital, and leading expert on Crohn’s Disease

“Their medical relationship is closely followed over 25 years, and much happens outside it, but they stay together, work out many profound complexities, and both profit from the experience.”
—The Easthampton Star

“[DANCING AT THE RIVER’S EDGE] is a moving account of a patient and her doctor’s relationship during the course of a chronic, often fatal, disease. Moreover, it provides an entertaining point of view for many of us who have to deal with medical and psychological care for such patients…. During the course of constructing the framework of this ongoing narrative concerning the pattern and manifestations of the disease, which begins when Ms. Brill is a teenager and finally is correctly diagnosed when she is in her fifties, Ms. Brill (an accomplished author and social scientist herself) and Dr. Lockshin become good friends as well as patient and doctor. Their negotiations about treatment represent the core thread of this book.”
—The Pharos, the Journal of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society

“A must-read for anyone who has traveled to the ‘other planet’ that is chronic illness, or loves someone who is making this arduous journey . . . a life-affirming and deeply moving book.”
—Nancy Matsumoto, journalist and coauthor, The Parents’ Guide to Eating Disorders

“[This book] delves into the intricacies and intimacy of chronic illness . . . it illuminates the spirit. Important for those suffering from chronic illness and [their] families.”
—Lauren Shuler Donner Producer, “You’ve Got Mail” and the X-Men series, a Lupus patient

“Living with chronic disease is one of the most challenging experiences anyone can face… This book is a testament to the healing power implied in this relationship.”
—Robert Wood Johnson, IV, Chairman, Alliance for Lupus Research

“DANCING is a book of hope. Hope that despite the pills, the IVs, the hours spent on that damn paper-lined table that we will still have full and rich lives. That we are still owed love and respect. That our doctors are struggling with us as well. This fact may scare some, but I am actually comforted by this tidbit. It flattens the playing field. It makes me think that perhaps some of us are partners in healing, not just receivers of wisdom in the form of a pill.”
—Veronica Arneola, VivaLaFeminista.com

“Read this book not just because you can relate, you are chronically ill or disabled, or you are a supporter of the chronically ill and disabled. Read it for those reasons first–but pour yourself into it because it is beautifully written and a genuinely human story.“
—Laura Overstreet, LeftyByDefault.com

“A beautiful book, both informative and moving, written from the heart by people who, through their interactions over the years, and through the conversation recorded in this book, know each other and themselves intimately. It is introspective, often poetic, always honest—the creation of “a meeting of minds and hearts…a peculiar kind of magic.”
—Kathy Walker, StoryCircleBookReviews.com

“About so much more than living with chronic illness–it’s a book about living in a world full of people with individual realities and hopes. Whether or not your life involves a daily accommodation to health issues, you will find something in this book to stretch your awareness and enrich your life.”
—Linda Bulger, Lunch.com