The sickness

"Dr. Miranda is coming to terms with a tragedy: his father has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and has only a few weeks to live. And yet the doctor--the son--finds it impossible to tell him. Ernesto Duran is convinced he is sick. Ever since he separated from his wife he has been presenting symptoms of an illness he believes is killing him. It becomes an obsession far exceeding hypochondria, and when Dr. Miranda gives up responding to his letters and e-mails, Duran resolves to stalk him. The fixation has its own creeping effect on Miranda's secretary, who cannot, despite her best intentions, resist becoming involved. The nature of sickness as experienced by two individuals--one a doctor who is no stranger to death, the other a man sick with anxiety and torment--provides the backbone to this tender, thoughtful and refined novel. The Sickness is profound and philosophical, and yet written with an agility that expresses the tragedy, but also the comedy of life itself"--