a book
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
Siddhartha Mukherjee · 2010 · 571 pages
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, adapted as a documentary from Ken Burns on PBS, this New York Times bestseller is “an extraordinary achievement” (The New Yorker)—a magnificent, profoundly humane “biography” of cancer.
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.
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.
recommended by 11 people
sourced from public statements
Andrew Chen
“wow. this book. 👌 Incredible story interleaving the histories of chemotherapy, mastectomies, radiation, tobacco, and so much more. The pulitzer prize is well deserved. Highly recommended.”↗
Laura R Walker
“For friends who have faced or are facing cancer, I often give them The Emperor of All Maladies.”↗
Amit Paranjape
“Today is #WorldCancerDay If you still haven't, do read - "The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer" by @DrSidMukherjee Great book!”↗
Matthew Herper
“Emil Freireich, literally a founding father of treating cancer with drugs, has passed. If you haven't, you should read @DrSidMukherjee's "Emporer of All Maladies." Some good details in @OtisBrawley's book, too.”↗
Christoph Janz
“That's a great concept by Karl Popper. He was thinking about science but you can (to a degree) apply it to starting a company or early-stage investing. From this excellent book: The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer”↗
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