The Emperor of All Maladies

A Biography of Cancer

By: Siddhartha Mukherjee

Narrated by: Fred Sanders

A magnificent, beautifully written "biography" of cancer - from its first documented appearances thousands of years ago through the epic battles to cure, control, and conquer it to a radical new understanding of its essence.

The Emperor of All Maladies reveals the many faces of an iconic, shape-shifting disease that is the defining plague of our generation. The story of cancer is a story of human ingenuity, resilience, and perseverance but also of hubris, arrogance, paternalism, and misperception, all leveraged against a disease that, just three decades ago, was thought to be easily vanquished in an all-out "war against cancer". 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. The audiobook is like a literary thriller with cancer as the central character.

From the Persian Queen Atossa, whose Greek slave may have cut off her diseased breast, to the 19th-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 toxic, bruising, and draining regimens in order to survive - and to increase the store of human knowledge.

©2010 Siddhartha Mukherjee, M.D. All rights reserved. (P)2015 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Great but not as good as his other book

I got this book because I read his other book The Gene: An Intimate History. That book is an unqualified masterpiece. This book is also great, but having read the other, it covers some familiar territory and so maybe was overshadowed. If you're only going to read one Siddhartha Mukergee book, read The Gene. That's my recommendation.

All in any part of medicine human or animal should read

The author writes with such simple explanation of very complicated scientific research and medical issues that will help everyone in the medical and medical to biological research fields understand where and how man had moved forward in understanding the complicated issues of life. Not only the bare bones research but it's interaction between science and our fellow human beings. Scientists reading this book will understand better how important human interaction is so very important and in the end we all know that no one has all the answers this book is very helpful in helping us understand how to approach patients, family and friends with disease and how the science of medicine is working. The author has a very deep love for his patients and for all of us in the practice of medicine and research. One of the best written books that I have ever read. I think that everyone who is in school pursuing a medical, veterinary or medical research path must read this book. It is so good that it should be required reading

Excellent

A spellbinding story beautifully narrated, all audio books should be like this. Who knows that a story about cancer could be told in such an interesting manner?

Gripping and informative

Surprisingly gripping given the subject matter. This is one of those aspirational books I meant to read for years and never did. But driving to northern Montana with spotty cell service I started listening to it on Audible and the story of a cancer patient and the author’s journey into oncology and the performance of the reader sucked me in.

As a child I lost an aunt and a classmate to cancer and it’s amazing how treatment has progress since even they died in the 80’s and 90’s. But even with the amazing advances described in the book, my takeaway was that this war against cancer is one of hubris. What is with our obsession with immortality? Why can’t we accept death gracefully? Descriptions of certain treatments made me super uncomfortable and queasy. I don’t understand why some people sacrifice so much for any tiny hope of prolonging their lives just a few days, weeks or months. In the book there is only passing discussion of palliative care (dismissed) and quality of life of cancer patients fighting the disease (intense suffering). If we have discovered cancer is programmed into our DNA and is a disease associated with aging (accumulation of mutations), there can be no “cure” for cancer, as conceded by the author toward the end of the book when he says we have to redefine success as prolonging life.

The book invites examination of Western Medicine and our cultural obsession with “cures”.

Brilliantly written and most inspiring !!!

A treasure for all of us dedicated to the search for effective treatment for patients with cancer.
Poetically written, Siddhartha walks us through the history of cancer and it’s warriors - unveiling a most inspiring , striking pattern.

Thank you Siddhartha for this Gift!

this is a great book

I can understand why this book won a Pulitzer Prize. it was interesting and very compelling for me to continue and read.

Fascinating and powerful

Like a mystery story solved over centuries.

As a cancer survivor I was particularly interested in Thomas Hodgkins and I wasn't disappointed...but Hodgkins is one of many fascinating people and amazing sub-stories within the greater story of the war on the disease that isn't really a disease at all.

There's a slower section about 70% through on public policy that didn't grip me, but still amazing nevertheless.

Brilliant telling of the history of cancer

As a physician, I really thought I understood a lot about cancer and it's history. I loved the telling of this story by Dr. Mukherjee so much--I appreciated the details about how recent histories of cancer have been heavily influenced by pathologists (my career!). This also helped to re-spark my love for medicine and remind me why I became a physician. I think as a non-medical person, there are technical pieces that might be a little much--but still enjoyable to hear/read. I loved doing this as an audible book, btw. This should be required reading for all those in their 2nd or 3rd years of medical school--and it will be fun to see where the science leads us now that so many new technologies and therapies have been introduced since this book was published.

fantastic narrative nonfiction

He chronicles cancer research and treatments over 2500 years, with descriptions of all the key people involved. A science background of some kind will likely make this an even more fascinating read for people. It did for me. Compassionately written with enough technical detail to keep you fascinated.

Remarkable

I listened to both The Emperor & The Gene. Both books are amazing & will make you smarter. You'll find yourself more interested in news stories about genetics & cancer & medicine in general. The narration is excellent as well.