Anatole Broyard

Anatole Broyard is the author of all the works included in Intoxicated By My Illness. He was a New York Times literary critic and author that died of terminal prostate cancer in 1990.

The essays, journal entries, reviews, and stories included in the work give the reader insight into different facets of the man, forming a complex three-dimensional portrayal of his character. The first three Parts of Intoxicated By My Illness were written and published while Broyard was suffering from a fatal case of prostate cancer. These three works portray the author in what he refers to throughout the book as his chosen "style" of illness (38). That is to say that he used his power as a writer to create a self that remained beautiful in the face of the deterioration brought on by cancer. Therefore, these essays portray him as witty, pensive, and artistic, attributes that Broyard...