Into the Funhouse

“I should have died by now—on more than one occasion. Yet I remain alive after almost a decade with acute leukemia that keeps coming back.”

So begins this remarkably lucid and moving memoir by Walter Harp. By turns wry, intense, introspective, expansive and improbably informative, Into the Funhouse chronicles Walt’s medical and emotional roller coaster as he and his family confront a rare, devastating strain of blood cancer that won't let go.

Walt, passionate and ambitious, a self-proclaimed workaholic with an agile sense of humor, is easy to get to know. Married to a kind but take-no-prisoners wife, doting dad to a Marvel hero superfan son and ferociously independent, tutu-obsessed little girl, Walt cherishes his “normal” life, and the terrifying prospect of it being lost to him is what drives the spiritual core of the book and deeply engages the reader. And as we follow Walt in this ultimate struggle, we understand that the story he tells is truly about life and love, not illness or death.

Compelling is Walt’s clear and honest inner voice charting the unyielding hope and existential fear that exist side by side as his constant companions as he tries to stay alive today and then another day and then another… And seemingly effortlessly, without heroics and disavowing self-pity, Walt somehow reaches that lightness of being that is transcendent. It is a joyful experience to follow him on this journey.

Publisher's Weekly starred review:

Harp’s harrowing debut exhaustively chronicles the twists and turns of his struggle with acute lymphoblastic leukemia over the past decade. Diagnosed at age 38, Harp writes that he “felt nothing” at first, but soon his intense treatment began: chemotherapy, radiation, and stem-cell transplants, as well as an experimental treatment that aimed to weaponize his own T-cells to fight leukemic blasts. At one point, he spent 17 frightening days in a “padded metal cocoon” suspended in midair to keep him from drowning in the fluid filling his lungs. His story is studded with vascular surgeries that threaten both his cancer treatments and his limbs, while brief interludes written by his wife, as well as touching scenes with his children, provide a 360-degree view of the family’s experience with Harp’s illness and remission. Throughout, Harp emphasizes his good fortune to have had nearly continuous employment in the tech industry and quality health insurance. Harp’s writing is matter-of-fact, exquisitely detailed, and often moving, while eschewing sentimentality. Harp surpasses his goal of offering hope as a “friend who, like you, endures.”

IR review:

Verdict? Laugh through your tears as you celebrate being alive.

What unfolds is a story of life. Yes, Harp is diagnosed with a life-threatening and often debilitating disease, but ordinary daily life has a way of creeping in, and Harp relays it all beautifully.

Entire sections of the book read like gripping conversation, as if a couple you are close friends with are retelling the biggest, and scariest, adventure of their lives to you.

Harp is a good storyteller. He has broken his story of survival into short, easily digestible segments. This works well to his advantage as his subject matter is often heavy and occasionally upsetting. He inserts scientific information that the audience may not already know.

Not a story of being healed and renewed; it is a story of a father, a husband, a dedicated employee, a man who is sick—who keeps on living despite it all, or perhaps, because of it all.