The Emperor of All Maladies

Fascinating history of the battle against cancer, vividly describing not just the mysteries of cancer and their gradual unraveling, but also the politics and people involved. There's plenty of ego and professional rivalry involved, with people holding onto wrong ideas and going down wrong tracks, but they're still the heroes compared to the obvious villains (tobacco industry, how are they still in business?) and sometime hero/villains (big pharma - heroes when they fund the research and bring it to market, villains when they, eh, not enough cancer customers). The author is a cancer physician and this book channels his professional and emotional investment in the topic, but cancer affects all of us, so while there are way too many "must read" books, I consider this one of them.

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.

Surprisingly riveting read. Got me thinking about science related to literacy, thoughts here:
https://languageliteracy.blog/2021/09/25/the-science-of-reading-and-cancer/

So interesting and engaging. Very well written. Although it's a tough topic, the book never seemed hopeless or terrible. Most likely going to be one of my favourite reads 2019. And just imagine what has happened in the past decade since the book was first published. I'm looking forward to reading more of Mukherjee's work.

Wow. TMI.

My eyes were glazing over by the time I finished this book. Once he started in on the genetic information he started to lose me. I never really did much care for genetics in school. Still, very informative if sometimes just too much all around. I'm grateful there are intelligent people in this world that help us fight our medical battles, if not down right dedicating their whole lives to the cause. God bless every one of them.

I found this supremely well written, balanced between the smooth telling of a suspense (who-done-it?) and just enough grounding in science history to keep both strands readable.
He kept the human context alive with the patients he followed and he showed humility in the way he never presumed to be more than a learner even after he became a qualified specialist.
The best science books are those that kindle the feeling of awe at life and the universe. Here there is awe at the perseverance of many to find cures and even awe at the incredible wily supreme survivor, the disease itself.
The only reason I didn't give 5-stars was because there wasn't enough of the patients perspectives, but perhaps I'm being unfair, the subtitle is "a biography of Cancer" after all.