The Emperor of All Maladies

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I want to say something that will make you eager to read this book. “Important” will make you yawn, but it really is an important book. It’s not “entertaining” but you won’t be able to put it down. It’s full of surprises, though not the kind that make you gasp.

Did you know that “Jimmy” of the Jimmy Fund was a Scandinavian boy who lived to old age in northern New England? That the origin of chemo-therapy was a Boston doctor injecting various caustic chemicals into patients who were in the last stages of leukemia? That cancer research was set back decades by the Cancer Society, which wanted lots of money thrown at the disease but didn’t fund the kind of research that has eventually explained how cancer develops on a cellular level?

There are many things that make this book so engrossing. One is the personality of the author, which comes through his writing – despite his trying to step back from his subject. Another is the fascination most of us have with cancer. So few of us are untouched by the disease, with public figures, friends, or family members being diagnosed with one of the many kinds of carcinoma.

The story of trends in cancer treatment leads to the innovative and often successful treatments of today. It’s a book filled with hope.

2011 No 90 Coming soon: Daniel Patrick Moynihan: A Portrait in Letters of an American Visionary

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Comments

[Kimberly Wold]

Okay, you sold me. It's now on my list. Love your eclectic reading taste.

Hope you are having a delightful summer, Mary. We here in Arizona are pretty much on fire (literally) so I am soon heading to cooler climate for a brief break. Hope to finish up a few books and report back.

[Mary Ronan Drew]

I don't think you'll be sorry you've put the book on your reading list, Kimberly.

We're having a cold, wet summer. The daily high has not yet hit 80, something that usually happens here in the middle of May.

I've been reading about the horrible fires. They are so hard to control when it's so hot and dry.

[Mary Ronan Drew]

Interesting essay by the author: http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/the-writing-life-by-siddhartha-mukherjee/2011/06/10/AGK8VOZH_story.html?fb_ref=NetworkNews&fb_source=home_oneline