The Vanishing Family
Love, Fate, and the Quest to End Dementia

Quotes

NAMED A NEW YORK TIMES NONFICTION BOOK EVERYONE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT IN 2026

“This is a triumph of reporting and an absolutely compelling exploration of neuroscience and genetics. At its heart, though, it's a poignant, heartfelt story about family and how love sustains even in the most difficult circumstances. Like Kolker's other work, it is full of deep humanity. It's a beautiful book.”
—Susan Orlean, New York Times-bestselling author of The Orchid Thief and Joyride

“Robert Kolker has somehow done it again. The Vanishing Family is an extraordinary investigation of the forms of silence and denial that come to structure a family redefined by dementia. It is also a riveting family saga about sisters and brothers trying to understand who they are as they gradually lose their memories and attachments.”
—Rachel Aviv, Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times-bestselling author of Strangers to Ourselves

“Kolker hits it out of the ballpark again. He writes about brain disorders the way great war correspondents write about battle: through the intimate lives caught in the crossfire. This book is gripping, devastating, illuminating, and impossible to put down.”
—David Eagleman, neuroscientist at Stanford University and New York Times-bestselling author of Livewired and Incognito

“An extraordinary and deeply human story about the long and twisting road to a scientific cure for dementia. Drawing on one family's harrowing genetic legacy, Bob Kolker illuminates not only the promise of gene-targeted therapies but also the brutal calculus of learning your biological fate. The Vanishing Family reads like a gripping medical mystery and an intimate family diary, forcing all of us to confront what it means to lose, and perhaps preserve, the self. This book is unforgettable.”
—Sanjay Gupta MD, associate professor of neurosurgery at Emory University, CNN chief medical correspondent, and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Keep Sharp

“It is a marvelous paradox that Robert Kolker possesses in abundance exactly the qualities that frontotemporal dementia erases: warmth, engagement, generosity, empathy. Because he cares so deeply about every member of this ill-starred family, we care too. This is a memorably humane book whose power grows as, page by page, we cheer for each winner of the genetic coin toss and grieve for each loser.”
—Anne Fadiman, award-winning author of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

“The Vanishing Family is a deeply intimate portrait of a family confronting a shared genetic fate, and the love, courage, and choices that follow. Robert Kolker brings clarity and compassion to frontotemporal dementia, offering both insight and urgency through his storytelling. His deep commitment to the FTD community makes this an important contribution, and this family’s willingness to share their story is both powerful and generous.”
—Emma Heming Willis, New York Times-bestselling author of The Unexpected Journey and advocate for FTD and caregivers

“Robert Kolker has written a deeply moving portrait of a family trying to outrun a mind-ravaging disorder, the researchers who can identify the genetic mutation that causes it — but can do nothing to prevent or slow its progress — and the courage of those who persist despite research roadblocks and the terror and sorrow of knowing they have inherited what cannot be averted. What gives The Vanishing Family its haunting power is the deep humanity the author brings to a story that, like the specter of dementia itself, has urgent implications for us all.”
—Jonathan Rosen, author of The Best Minds, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize

“Those who have already read Robert Kolker’s work know what to expect from The Vanishing Family — a timely, urgent story in which one family’s personal history provides a window on larger medical/ethical issues. Those who have not are in for a treat. Deeply empathetic, this book reads like a thriller, but Kolker doesn’t pretend there are any real answers for families affected by this particular form of dementia. Moving, haunting, and profound.”
—Laura Lippman, New York Times-bestselling author of Lady in the Lake and What the Dead Know

“A moving account of one Pennsylvania family’s struggle with a rare inherited form of frontotemporal dementia. . . . Kolker skillfully translates complex neuroscience into accessible prose and balances scientific discovery with intimate family drama. . . . It’s a powerful examination of inheritance, resilience, and the human cost of medical uncertainty.”
—Publishers Weekly

“A compelling view of dementia and its devastating effect on victims and family alike.”
—Kirkus Reviews