Emperor of All Maladies

A Biography of Cancer

Hardcover, 571 pages

English language

Published Nov. 28, 2010 by Scribner.

ISBN:
978-1-4391-0795-9
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OCLC Number:
691380716

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5 stars (2 reviews)

The Emperor of All Maladies is a magnificent, profoundly humane “biography” of cancer—from its first documented appearances thousands of years ago through the epic battles in the twentieth century to cure, control, and conquer it to a radical new understanding of its essence.

Physician, researcher, and award-winning science writer, Siddhartha Mukherjee examines cancer with a cellular biologist’s precision, a historian’s perspective, and a biographer’s passion. The result is an astonishingly lucid and eloquent chronicle of a disease humans have lived with—and perished from—for more than five thousand years.

The story of cancer is a story of human ingenuity, resilience, and perseverance, but also of hubris, paternalism, and misperception. Mukherjee recounts centuries of discoveries, setbacks, victories, and deaths, told through the eyes of his predecessors and peers, training their wits against an infinitely resourceful adversary that, just three decades ago, was thought to be easily vanquished in an all-out “war against …

21 editions

The Perfect Guide to your Altered Self

5 stars

This is the book that made me realize I wanted to practice medicine.

I was handed this book in my senior year of high school by the veterinarian I shadowed at the time after expressing interest into the pathology of cancer. He had told me that this book would change the way I see the body, and he was absolutely correct. Mukherjee covers the difficult concept of cancer with dignity and a vast respect for those who have suffered under its weight. It was the ways in which he described his interaction with his patients that made me realize clinical medicine was the future I desired.

Mukherjee has an excellent talent for breaking intricate topics in to digestible concepts for all to understand. You do not need a vast array of previous information to understand this book.

Years later, as I'm preparing to head off to medical school, I still …

Review of 'The Emperor of All Maladies' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I very much enjoyed reading this book as it was informative both on the level of science and the pain that cancer patients go through. I appreciated the pains the author took to track down the historical details of cancer treatment. I also liked that he does not lose sight of human suffering and hope when talking about exciting developments in science.

I can talk about minor issues with the book, like how some sections are too US-centric, and how sometimes the author tries a bit too hard to spice up the descriptions of the science and scientist. But none of the above reduces the value of the book, so I wholeheartedly recommend this book.