The Emperor of all Maladies: A Biography of Cancer (2010) Mukherjee, S. New York, NY Scribner 616.99 Muk
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 cancer.” The book reads like a literary thriller with cancer as the protagonist. From the Persian Queen Atossa, whose Greek slave may have cut off her diseased breast, to the nineteenth-century recipients of primitive radiation and chemotherapy to Mukherjee’s own leukemia patient, Carla, The Emperor of All Maladies is about the people who have soldiered through fiercely demanding regimens in order to survive—and to increase our understanding of this iconic disease. Riveting, urgent, and surprising, The Emperor of All Maladies provides a fascinating glimpse into the future of cancer treatments. It is an illuminating book that provides hope and clarity to those seeking to demystify cancer. Click to visit author's page on agent website Click to access 2011 NPR interview with Sidhartha Mukjerjee Watch below Sidhartha Mukjerjee speak in 2015 about the PBS documentary based on his book and work.
0 Comments
10/31/2016 A Thousand Naked Strangers: A Paramedic's Wild Ride to the Edge and Back by Kevin HazzardRead NowA Thousand Naked Strangers: A Paramedic's Wild Ride to the Edge and Back (2016) New York, NY Scribner 362.18 Haz A former paramedic’s visceral, poignant, and mordantly funny account of a decade spent on Atlanta’s mean streets saving lives and connecting with the drama and occasional beauty that lies inside catastrophe. In the aftermath of 9/11 Kevin Hazzard felt that something was missing from his life—his days were too safe, too routine. A failed salesman turned local reporter, he wanted to test himself, see how he might respond to pressure and danger. He signed up for emergency medical training and became, at age twenty-six, a newly minted EMT running calls in the worst sections of Atlanta. His life entered a different realm—one of blood, violence, and amazing grace. Thoroughly intimidated at first and frequently terrified, he experienced on a nightly basis the adrenaline rush of walking into chaos. But in his downtime, Kevin reflected on how people’s facades drop away when catastrophe strikes. As his hours on the job piled up, he realized he was beginning to see into the truth of things. There is no pretense five beats into a chest compression, or in an alley next to a crack den, or on a dimly lit highway where cars have collided. Eventually, what had at first seemed impossible happened: Kevin acquired mastery. And in the process he was able to discern the professional differences between his freewheeling peers, what marked each—as he termed them—as “a tourist,” “true believer,” or “killer.” Combining indelible scenes that remind us of life’s fragile beauty with laugh-out-loud moments that keep us smiling through the worst, A Thousand Naked Strangers is an absorbing read about one man’s journey of self-discovery—a trip that also teaches us about ourselves. Click to visit author's website. Click to access 2016 NPR interview with Kevin Hazzard Watch below Kevin Hazzard speak in 2016 about the background to his book and work.
Get Well Soon (2007) Halpern, J. New York, NY Square Fish Fic Hal
Anna Bloom is depressed -- so depressed that her parents have committed her to a mental hospital with a bunch of other messed-up teens. Here she meets a roommate with a secret (and a plastic baby), a doctor who focuses way too much on her weight, and a cute, shy boy who just might like her. But wait! Being trapped in a loony bin isn't supposed to be about making friends, losing weight, and having a crush, is it? Get Well Soon, Julie Halpern's fiction debut, finds humor in the unlikeliest of places, and presents a character whose voice -- and heart -- will resonate with all of us who have ever felt just a little bit crazy. Click to visit author's website. Click to access 2007 LiveJournal interview with Julie Halpern Watch below Julie Halpern give funny insights in 2011 about subject of her book.
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (2003) New York, NY W.W. Norton & Co. 611 ROA
Stiff is an oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem. For two thousand years, cadavers―some willingly, some unwittingly―have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. In this fascinating account, Mary Roach visits the good deeds of cadavers over the centuries and tells the engrossing story of our bodies when we are no longer with them. Click to visit author's website. Click to access 2003 NPR interview with Mary Roach Watch below Mary Roach in 2009 library talk about her books and work.
Still Alice (2007) Genova, L. New York, NY Simon and Schuster Fic Gen
Alice Howland is proud of the life she worked so hard to build. At fifty years old, she’s a cognitive psychology professor at Harvard and a world-renowned expert in linguistics with a successful husband and three grown children. When she becomes increasingly disoriented and forgetful, a tragic diagnosis changes her life—and her relationship with her family and the world—forever. As she struggles to cope with Alzheimer’s, she learns that her worth is comprised of far more than her ability to remember. At once beautiful and terrifying, Still Alice is a moving and vivid depiction of life with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease that is as compelling as A Beautiful Mind and as unforgettable as Ordinary People. Click to visit author's website. Click to access 2015 WBUR interview with Lisa Genova Watch below Lisa Genova in 2011 talks about her books and work.
The Man who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales (1970) Sacks, O. New York, NY Simon and Schuster
In his most extraordinary book, "one of the great clinical writers of the 20th century" (The New York Times) recounts the case histories of patients lost in the bizarre, apparently inescapable world of neurological disorders. Oliver Sacks's The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat tells the stories of individuals afflicted with fantastic perceptual and intellectual aberrations: patients who have lost their memories and with them the greater part of their pasts; who are no longer able to recognize people and common objects; who are stricken with violent tics and grimaces or who shout involuntary obscenities; whose limbs have become alien; who have been dismissed as retarded yet are gifted with uncanny artistic or mathematical talents. If inconceivably strange, these brilliant tales remain, in Dr. Sacks's splendid and sympathetic telling, deeply human. They are studies of life struggling against incredible adversity, and they enable us to enter the world of the neurologically impaired, to imagine with our hearts what it must be to live and feel as they do. A great healer, Sacks never loses sight of medicine's ultimate responsibility: "the suffering, afflicted, fighting human subject." Click to visit author's website. Click to access 2016 Radio Lab last interview with Oliver Sacks Watch below Oliver Sacks in 1989 talk about writing books and his work with people.
The Cider House Rules (1985) Irving, J. New York, NY Morrow Fic Irv
Set in rural Maine in the first half of this century, it tells the story of Dr. Wilbur Larch--obstetrician and director of the orphanage in the town of St. Clouds. It is also the story of his favorite orphan, Homer, who is never adopted. Click to visit author's website. Click to access 2015 NPR interview with John Irving Watch below John Irving in 2000 talk about Cider House Rules adaption to film.
Purge (2009) Littman, S. New York, NY Scholastic Press Fic Lit
Janie Ryman hates throwing up. So why does she binge eat and then stick her fingers down her throat several times a day? That’s what the doctors and psychiatrists at Golden Slopes hope to help her discover. But first Janie must survive everyday conflicts between the Barfers and the Starvers, attempts by the head psychiatrist to fish painful memories out of her emotional waters, and shifting friendships and alliances among the kids in the ward. Click to visit author's website. Click to access 2015 Publisher Weekly interview with Sarah Darer Littman Watch below book trailer for Purge. The Bell Jar (1971) Plath, S. New Yourk, NY Harper & Row Fic Pla The Bell Jar chronicles the crack-up of Esther Greenwood: brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under -- maybe for the last time. Sylvia Plath masterfully draws the reader into Esther's breakdown with such intensity that Esther's insanity becomes completely real and even rational, as probable and accessible an experience as going to the movies. Such deep penetration into the dark and harrowing corners of the psyche is an extraordinary accomplishment and has made The Bell Jar a haunting American classic.
Life Support (1997) Gerritsen, T New York, NY Simon and Shuster Fic Ger
The quiet overnight shift at Springer Hospital ER suits Dr. Toby Harper just fine—until she admits a man in critical condition from a possible viral infection of the brain. The delirious man barely responds to treatment—and then disappears without a trace. Before Toby can find him, a second case occurs, revealing a terrifying fact: the virus can only be spread through direct tissue exchange. Following a trail of death that winds from a pregnant sixteen-year-old prostitute to her own home, Toby discovers the unthinkable: the epidemic didn't just happen—someone let it loose.... Click to visit author's website. Click to access 2010 Kirkus review of Tess Gerritsen's book. Watch below Tess Gerritsen in 2007 talk about her writing and career. |
Details
Author
Here you will find information about new titles currently being processed into the collection. Check Destiny to reserve and place a hold. Archives
December 2016
Categories
All
|