In July,at my support group meeting I mentioned that I had just finished reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and had written about it on this blog. Another survivor asked me if I had read The Emperor of All Maladies - A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee. She told me that it should be the very next book I read.
Don't let its large size, 470 pages, stop you. The Emperor of All Maladies is a brilliantly written history of cancer. From the first description of cancer in Egypt in 2500BC to describing the discovery of the drug Gleevec and the Human Genome project, Mukherjee kept me engaged. The glimpse we had at the care he provided his patients was wonderfully linked to the history. Mukherjee presents complex microbiological and genetic processes in a way that is easy to grasp. As I read about the ras pathway I found myself wishing I had read the book prior to going to the ASCO conference in June.
I finished the book feeling that each research development described, some with more positive results than others, has given us a better understanding of cancer that ultimately will lead to - dare I day it - a cure.
I highly recommend this book.
Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!
4 comments:
I've been thinking about reading this for a while actually. I think now I have to find myself a copy. Great post. Any other suggestions you might have?
I also found the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks also an interesting read.
I'll have to take a look. :-) Thanks Dee!
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was a very interesting book to read. I picked this book to read for my class about political issues. The politcal issue in this book was mainly about tisse donor consent. I learned a lot about the different issues, Henrietta's life, her family's life, and all about the science behind her cells. The book was very well written.
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