Content Warning: This section of the Study Guide discusses depression, anxiety, suicide, self-harm, addiction, violence, and other public health concerns.

Murthy’s book was originally published in April 2020, a month after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic and nations implemented shutdowns to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. Governments around the world closed businesses and schools, ordering everyone except essential service workers—including first responders, healthcare professionals, and food-supply workers—to stay home. These drastic measures prompted Murthy to add a brief Author’s Note to Together in March 2020, just before the book went to press. In it, Murthy describes COVID as “an invisible stalker” that “turned physical human contact into a potentially mortal threat” (7). Almost overnight, getting close to others became synonymous with danger. Public health officials urged people to distance themselves from others to save lives. The term “social distancing” became part of the lexicon. As Murthy notes, however, social distancing is a misnomer: What health officials were in fact recommending was physical distancing.

Together is about the importance of human connection, the impact of loneliness on physical and mental health, and the power of community. These issues have become more pressing since the outbreak of COVID.