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Jenifer Estess was the quintessential New Yorker; successful, single, and thirty-something. She was the go-to girl, on track to achieve her personal goals of a Malibu dream house and the perfect family. Then one night while on a date, she had to walk up four flights of stairs. When she got to the top, she was exhausted and soaking with sweat. Jenifer knew something was wrong.

TALES FROM THE BED: On Living, Dying, and Having It All by Jenifer Estess, as told to Valerie Estess, with a foreword by Katie Couric is the inspirational memoir of Jenifer Estess, who achieved personal triumphs and changed the world after being diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). It is the story of what was and what could have been, and how this brave woman who, with her two sisters, Valerie and Meredith, founded Project ALS, an organization for which they have raised over $17 million and have been able to gather together doctors, researchers, and scientists from around the world to begin to find a cure for this devastating disease.

Six years ago, doctors told Jenifer that she had ALS, and to max out her credit cards, take a long trip, and prepare to die. She could have taken doctors' orders. Instead, Jenifer chose to fight for her dreams with renewed courage. She became a soldier in the fight against ALS by drawing on survival skills she learned when she and her sisters were girls.

Jenifer wrote from her queen-sized bed in Manhattan, where, as a paralyzed woman facing her mortality, she saw the world. TALES FROM THE BED tells her story of growing up in a typically dysfunctional American family; of her descent into illness; of hilarious, surprising, and heartbreaking encounters with friends and family, lovers, and celebrities; and of her and her sisters' fight to save her life.

This entertaining and moving memoir shows that love-and memory-are the best weapons in the fight against a vicious enemy. TALES FROM THE BED inspires readers from all walks to reconsider the notion of "having it all."

FROM THE INSIDE COVER

Jenifer Estess is a woman on the verge: She's about to launch her own company; she's looking buff and dating vigorously; she's driving in the fast lane — with the top down. At the age of thirty-five, Jenifer dreams of falling in love and starting a family. Then she notices muscle twitches in her legs. Walking down a city block feels exhausting. At first, doctors write off Jenifer's symptoms to stress, but she is quickly diagnosed with ALS, a fatal brain disease that is absolutely untreatable.

Max out your credit cards and see Paris, suggests one doctor. Instead of preparing to die, Jenifer gets busy. She dreams deeper, works harder, and loves endlessly. For Jenifer, being fatally ill is not about letting go. It's about holding on and reaching — for family, friends, goals.

Jenifer's girlhood pact with her sisters Valerie and Meredith — nothing will ever break us apart — guides them as Jenifer faces down one of the most devastating illnesses known to humankind. That same enduring pact inspires the creation of Project A.L.S., a movement started by the sisters that changes the way science and medicine approach research for ALS and the related diseases Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, and which has already raised more than $18 million. Will Project A.L.S. help scientists discover medicine in time for her?

Jenifer answers these questions and others in this beautifully written and wholly inspiring memoir that celebrates a life fuelled by memory. Tales from the Bed forces us to reconsider society's notion of "having it all," and illustrates, more than anything, the importance of endurance, hope, and, most of all, love.

CLICK HERE to read an excerpt from TALES FROM THE BED