For such a depressing but all important topic as cancer, this book was a fantastic read. Smooth writing about the toughest disease to overcome in layperson terms from the history of the disease to the most current treatments. Mr. Mukherjee emphasizes that uncontrolled cell division (cancer) is a challenge to cure but that continued human progress in research and clinical trials will lead us to a better medical future. I was pleasantly surprised on how absorving this book was - now I know why it won the Pultizer Prize.

The Good Stuff * I won't lie, when I opened up the mail and saw this my first thought was WTF - pulizter prize winner, hello this is not my thing. I am not an overly intelligent women and well quite frankly was thinking dullsville. Well, I was very, very wrong! * This is brilliantly written and relatively easy to understand -- even for me * I was so fascinated and learned so much I actually found it difficult to put down * Medical information is in depth, interesting and written in more layman terms - which very much surprising * Incredibly well researched & some fantastic notes and detailed index (yes I know its geeky but I am an anal Library Technician * Fascinating to see the denial through history of the connection between tobacco and cancer -- especially from educated medical personal * Horrified and disgusted at times of all the research done on unsuspecting patients, even knowing the benefits it had in the medical field * Actually teared up a couple of times which very much surprised me * The author has a very honest, sensitive and personal manner which is a rarity in a Dr (Trust me I have spent my whole life surrounded by those in the medical profession) * The writing is almost lyrical which again surprised me * Cancer really does suck a** & hopefully one day we will kick its a** The Not so Good Stuff * At times it jumps from time frame to time frame which was a little disconcerting * Some noticeable repetition - better editing would have made it a tighter piece of writing Favorite Quotes/Passages "As a doctor learning to tend cancer patients, I had only a partial glimpse of this confinement. But even skirting its periphery, I could still feel its power-the dense, insistent gravitational tug that pulls everything and everyone into the orbit of cancer." "When Wynder presented his preliminary ideas at a conference on lung biology in Memphis, not a singles question or comment came from the members of the audience, most of whom had apparently slept through the talk or cared too little about the topic to be roused. IN contrast, the presentation that followed Wynder's, on an obscure disease called pulmonary adenomatosis in sheep, generated a lively, half hour debate." "Germaine fought cancer obsessively, cannily, desperately, fiercely, madly, brilliantly, and zealously - as if channeling all the fierce, inventive energy of generations of men and women who had fought cancer in the past and would fight it in the future." Who should/shouldn't read * Anyone who has been affected in any way by Cancer * All medical professional dealing with Cancer * So yeah, its pretty much required reading for everyone over the age of 16 (Terminology and subject matter might be hard to deal with by those younger than 16) 4.5 Dewey's I received this from Simon and Schuster in exchange for an honest review

“The Emperor of all Maladies a Biography of Cancer” by Siddhartha Mukherjee is a well put together book. It is organized and well thought out. It starts at the beginning of recorded history of cancer and ends with our present day knowledge of cancer. The book covers how humans have treated cancer from the beginning to the present. The book terrified me in some parts; reading how they treated breast cancer, performing mastectomies without anesthetic and how crippled the women would be after the procedure if they survived. “The Emperor of all Maladies” is a frightening reminder of how little we do know about cancer. One thing I have learned over the years is that knowledge and how we apply our knowledge is always changing. What we believe is true today will most likely be false tomorrow and this applies to the medical field and from reading this book you will see how it applies to cancer. Cancer is part of our society and as our population ages it well become an even greater part of who we are...with the majority of us living a long life...the majority of us well encounter some form of cancer. What is the best way to beat cancer? More money, it really is that simple...with the money available to the many intelligent individuals out there willing to do research, I truly believe we could have better survival rates and less toxic, less side effect ridden medications. Will we ever beat cancer? I doubt it, but we sure could treat it in a more patient friendly way. I have always had a love for the field of genetics and this book feeds that passion. The book is informative and interesting and involving...it contains enough science to teach the reader about what is the cause of cancer and how can we treat it. I always love a book that teaches me new things and this one succeeds on many levels.

It must have been difficult to write the history of a disease that has decimated so many families and created such fear and anxiety. Mukherjee manages to do this with great ability, giving us the critical information whilst not bogging us down with too many details. The book has a few dry spots but, overall, for a science history, it is quite intriguing. I certainly learned a lot about cancer while reading this and I was surprised to find how brutal the treatments were up to very recently. Mukherjee also gives us a little more hope at the very end with his chapter on gene therapy. A great read for those interested in medical science or for those who want to know more about cancer specifically. The book is very approachable and you can easily navigate its terms and concepts with a minimum of science background.

There are times his writing has a poetical character to it. How cancer and poetry can be in the same sentence is hard to imagine but it is something Mukherjee achieves.