A powerful recommendation for Siddhartha Mukherjee's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of cancer and why understanding it prepares you for life's hardest moments
"Cancer is not one disease but many. We cannot defeat it with a single magic bullet, but we can learn to understand it, to manage it, and to help those who suffer from it." – Siddhartha Mukherjee
There are very few books I recommend as strongly as The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee. It is subtitled A Biography of Cancer, and that's exactly what it is: an extraordinary narrative that covers thousands of years of human struggle with one of our oldest enemies.
Reading this book before you need it prepares you in a way few resources can. It gives you the language to understand cancer, the ability to follow conversations with doctors, and the grounding to support someone you love through one of life's hardest challenges.
You're either ignoring reality, hoping to die before everyone you love, or hoping to live long enough to be there for them when they need you most. The last of those options is the one worth preparing for. This book is a way to prepare: not because it's dark, but because it gives you the tools to stand in hard places with others.
Siddhartha Mukherjee, M.D., D.Phil., is a physician, oncologist, and researcher. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Columbia University and a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. His work bridges medicine and storytelling, making complex science accessible to anyone willing to understand it. You can learn more about him on Wikipedia or visit his official website.
If you want to be a friend or family member who knows how to stand alongside someone in their hardest moment, read this book now, before life asks that of you.