Now available in paperback!
Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker
One of Audible's Best Audiobooks of 2023
A USA Today Book Club selection
An Amazon Editors’ Pick: Best Biographies & Memoirs
“Life On Delay brims with empathy and honesty . . . It moved me in ways that I haven’t experienced before. It’s fantastic.”
—Clint Smith, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller How the Word Is Passed
“Hendrickson has cultivated an undeniable gift for concise metaphors, distilling potentially long-winded explanations into memorable images, briskly delivered . . . He movingly describes not only his own experience of trying to speak to others but also his constant awareness of their experience of him . . . All of this is seamlessly recounted, threading together science and emotion, ideas and experience.”
—Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times
“Life on Delay recasts stuttering and, in doing so, challenges long-standing attitudes toward disability. By drawing deftly from personal experience, research, others’ stories and his wellspring of empathy, Hendrickson transforms the disorder he avoided claiming for decades into an invitation to all of us to demonstrate genuine humanity.”
—The Washington Post
“[A] moving exploration . . . A wealth of fascinating detail . . . But the real draw lies in [Hendrickson’s] account of his personal experiences, which convey something essential about the challenge of being human.”
—The New Yorker
“Life on Delay is not a disability memoir that focuses on trying to find a cure for stuttering, nor does it fall into the category of sentimental, inspirational stories of overcoming impossible odds. Instead, the book promotes a simple message: Obtaining true peace comes from accepting every part of yourself, including the things that bring you shame.”
—BookPage (starred review)
“A tremendous, and gorgeously written, memoir that will have you rooting for John—as well as catching glimpses of your own life’s journey in his.”
—Isaac Fitzgerald, The Today Show
“Soulful . . . Hendrickson provides a raw, intimate look at his life with a stutter. It’s a profoundly moving book that will reshape the way you think about people living with this condition.”
—Esquire
“This is a potentially life-changing read for everyone, not only for people who are struggling with feeling different.”
—Booklist
“Hendrickson’s writing style has a vibrant immediacy to it that keeps you glued to the page.”
—Book and Film Globe
“Powerful . . . [Hendrickson’s] interviews with researchers, therapists, fellow stutterers, and parents of children who stutter widen the narrative scope and compassionately uplift a stigmatized community. The author is a thoughtful reporter, and he delivers a visceral understanding of how he compartmentalized his shame. This memoir casts a necessary light on a disability that too often goes unseen.”
—Publishers Weekly
“[Hendrickson writes] with profound intelligence and insight . . . We’ve been waiting a long time for a book like this.”
—The Millions
“By turns outrage-inducing, heartbreaking, and inspiring . . . I can’t remember the last time I read a book that made me want to both cry and cheer so much, often at the same time.”
—Robert Kolker, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Hidden Valley Road
“A revelation and an affirmation . . . a universal story of forgiveness, told with uncommon grace and wit.”
—Jennifer Senior, winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in feature writing and author of the New York Times bestseller All Joy and No Fun
“Brave, eye-opening, and exquisitely moving . . . A must-read for every human.”
—Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
“Hendrickson has a magical way with words and pulls the reader into his world with the ease of Joan Didion and Susan Sontag.”
—Douglas Brinkley, New York Times bestselling author of Silent Spring Revolution
“Not only one of the most engaging books I've ever read on disability, it's one of the best books I’ve read on becoming a mature, authentic human being in a society that stigmatizes difference.”
—Steve Silberman, New York Times bestselling author of NeuroTribes
“A brave, productive confrontation with years of shame, a resetting of old assumptions . . . an empowering and liberating memoir.”
—Ted Conover, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and author of Cheap Land Colorado
“John Hendrickson may have struggled to speak, but he shows himself a gifted storyteller . . . This is a powerful memoir, but more than that, it's a beautiful one.”
—Nicholas Kristof, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and coauthor of Half the Sky