Summary & Study Guide The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee

by BookRags

This study guide includes the following Plot Summary, Chapter Summaries & Analysis, Characters, Objects/Places, Themes, Style, Quotes, and Topics for Discussion.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

48 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 13, 2012

Reviews

[Donnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. It really provided a broad historical perspective on cancer in humans. I found the early history interesting and the later history fascinating. I was particularly interested in 1960-1990. I was hearing about smoking in the news and then later was investigating cancer as part of my graduate work. This gave me a better appreciation for the landscape for cancer research development and funding at that time. It also provided an almost current update on all of the different paths research has taken to try and find a cure for this disease. Some of this might be a little technical for readers with no medical background but generally speaking, it was explained well and at a level most readers could follow.

[Beverlee Jobrack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly readable and incredibly informative history of cancer and the many roads to finding a cure. Mukherjee documents the different attempts to cure cancer (surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, prevention, genetic markers) and outlines the realization that cancer is not one thing, but many different things that need many different treatments. "History repeats but science reverberates."

[Bob Angell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

[Joshua Lowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heavy but inspiring. Very interesting.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read if you have any interest in cancer, and want to better understand what cancer is and isn't. It explains the difficulty of treating cancer, and how successful treatments have been found. It is a long read, but worth it. It is also written so anyone could read it, and it is fun to read. The style is similar to a Malcolm Gladwell book. It also is completely cited which I really appreciate, with basically every hallmark study ever done on cancer. It is something I plan to have on my bookshelf.

[Raghu Oddiraju · Rating 5 out of 5]

For someone with not much medical background, this one was another great book on the history and progress of cure for cancer. It was explained in very lay man terms and at times was very emotional too. Mukherjee is a great story teller too. Definitely recommend this one.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a science nerd and my stomach is squeamish, but this book was incredible. I couldn't put it down.

[Pedro A.G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. A mix between the history of cancer research in general and the people involved in this research, both in the medical filed and outside of it (in philanthropy and policy).

[R Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant.

[Nick F · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, didn't read like a textbook as the title would suggest.

Page-turner.