by Siddhartha Mukherjee
In 2010, about six hundred thousand Americans, and more than 7 million humans around the world, will die of cancer." With this sobering statistic, physician and researcher Siddhartha Mukherjee begins his comprehensive and eloquent "biography" of one of the most virulent diseases of our time. An exhaustive account of cancer's origins, The Emperor of All Maladies illustrates how modern treatments--multi-pronged chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery, as well as preventative care--came into existence thanks to a century's worth of research, trials, and small, essential breakthroughs around the globe. While The Emperor of All Maladies is rich with the science and history behind the fight against cancer, it is also a meditation on illness, medical ethics, and the complex, intertwining lives of doctors and patients. Mukherjee's profound compassion--for cancer patients, their families, as well as the oncologists who, all too often, can offer little hope--makes this book a very human history of an elusive and complicated disease.
* Kindle Edition Available
* Kindle Edition Available
The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee Overview
Mukherjee's magisterial history of cancer research is poorly served by Stephen Hoye's impersonal, tone-deaf narration. Mukherjee is a practicing oncologist, and his is a deeply personal account, replete with stories of his own patients and practice, that begs for an intimate reading. But Hoye is pedantic, dry, stentorian-everything that this book isn't-and his newscaster's delivery cannot convey the author's compassion for his patients or the suspense and thrill of scientific discovery that the book so brilliantly describes. A Scribner hardcover.
The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee Review
I just finished devouring this book. Quiet possibly, this is the first medical/science book that's kept me riveted from beginning to end. It's part science, part history, and part sociology, and somehow Mukherjee pulls it all together beautifully. For any "science-challenged" types who may have trepidation about the subject matter, Mukherjee is a truly gifted writer who makes even relatively complicated concepts (e.g., kinases & pathways) absolutely facinating. I picked up the book because I'm a cancer survivor (of a hereditary cancer) but what kept me riveted was the author's prose, how he interweaves the themes, and his enthusiasm for his subject. When he described cancer as "beautiful" (a word he uses quite a bit), I actually understood what he meant even though I might not see it that way myself. The patient stories, though perhaps just a little forced, capture some essential truths. As someone who has navigated "Cancerdom" - experiencing both the beautiful and the ugly (and I'm not talking about the disease)- I felt Mukherjee gets it.
Learn More & Check Price
The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee