Gila Pfeffer on Finding Meaning and Humor in the Darkest Times

By the time she was thirty, Gila Pfeffer was the oldest living member of her family, having lost her mother to breast cancer and her father to colon cancer. A simple blood test confirmed she carried the BRCA1 gene—which put her at high risk of developing cancer herself. Determined to break the cycle of early death in her family, Gila decides to undergo an elective double mastectomy.

This memoir follows her journey as she becomes a reluctant expert on how to sit shiva, grows up, falls in love, and enters motherhood, before her life is derailed yet again. Her double mastectomy reveals cancer already growing in one breast.

Drenched in Gila’s dark humor, Nearly Departed is a story about thriving against the odds, committing to what’s important, and leaving a better legacy than the one you inherited. (The Experiment).

Gila Pfeffer is a Jewish American writer and humorist. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, Today.com, and elsewhere. Gila’s monthly “Feel It on the First” campaign reminds women to prioritize their breast health. She splits her time between New York City and London.

In this intimate conversation, Gila reflects on why she’s grateful for her “big mouth,” and her impulse to find meaning - and humor - in even the most painful experiences. 

Gila Pfeffer’s Five Books:

1. God Knows by Joseph Heller
2. Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
3. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 
4. The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
5. Nearly Departed: Adventures in Loss, Cancer, and Other Inconveniences by Gila Pfeffer

Other Resources: 

• The Life of Viktor Frankl 
• The Choice by Dr. Edith Eva Eger 

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Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen

Produced by Odelia Rubin

Artwork by Dena Friedman

Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions