Don’t bitch, just read
At the beginning of the year I challenged myself to read more each weekend, since that’s the only time I really pick up a book, sit down in a chair, get comfy and dive inside pages that are not online or in a word doc.
Last weekend I picked up Gail Konop Baker’s Cancer Is A Bitch. I’d purchased the book a while back because I read the reviews and because I chatted with Gail on Twitter, on Facebook and at Backspace. I’ll be honest — I was a little reluctant to read yet another book about Cancer. After all (thank God, knock wood, spit-spit) I am healthy.
But I took a chance and I loved it. I am so glad I did not miss out on this book.
I enjoyed the story because it was real but not sappy. It was informational but not snobbish. Gail tracks her life through the ups and downs and one of those happens to be, Cancer. She’s a wife and a mom and a daughter and a friend. She’s a runner and health-nut — and that’s before her diagnosis. She’s honest about her obsessions and her downfalls, she’s slow to see her strengths. I think the reader sees it before she does, and that being so, I cheered her on. The book is easy-to-understand, yet it’s far from simple. And no disrespect to the very serious nature of Cancer, but this book is damn entertaining. It does not demean, belittle or put Cancer in the corner but it also puts it in its rightful place when it’s the right time to do so.
As a writer I must interject that it’s also well-written — as we know — not all books are. The style of writing is one that I enjoy. It’s quick-witted and conversational, yet it clearly tells a story. It’s not a diary or a medical journal. It’s a memoir that reads like a good novel – and that’s the kind of memoir I like. Don’t you?
I read a Cancer Is A Bitch (which has the kick-ass sub-title “…or I’d rather be having a mid-life crisis”) — in a weekend — well, I read most of it in a weekend. I read the last pages a few nights ago, which is another testament to the book and to Gail, because…I turned off the TV.
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- Jan 18, 2009: The Debutante Ball » Blog Archive » News Flash, January 18
That sounds great, I’ll have to watch for it.
Another I liked is Why I Wore Lipstick to my Masectomy (sp). I don’t recall the author because I loaned it out, but hers is also humorous and tells a good story.
What a great gift to those who are suffering the big C, whose loved one is (like my mom), or who just love a good read. Trifecta for the author.
Thanks for the tip. My mom is an almost two-year breast cancer survivor, and is in surgery as I write this to get her expanders (sp?) out and an implant put in. She’s dealt with complications like staff infections that have been as bad as the chemo and radiation. She’s an avid reader. I’ll be getting her this book.
Wow, that’s cool! I should check it out!
Yup – wonderful book and kick-arse writing! Loved it…
This review is spot on! How great that you reviewed Gail’s book on your blog!
I loved her book for its honesty about relationships — and marriage. Gail is a treasure.
Arrrrgh! This book and author are both maddening. Has no one read the page where the actual diagnosis was made? Gail didn’t actually have cancer, at least not in the sense of what most people consider as breast cancer. Her hypervenilating about her surgery and her scars is nearly laughable. One wonders if the overwrought tone of her writing is reflective of her hyper-sensitivity towards health, and matched by a radiologist husband. Much of the book sounds like the rant of an spoiled housewife. For those who have truly struggled with breast cancer and without the ridiculous amount of privilege she has — as in, try going to an actual job — her book is a tough read.
Of course Gail has the gold-plated tour: she hired Goldberg/McDuffie, the most expensive book promoters you can buy. Will no one challenge this housewife’s ridiculous notion of ill health and actual midlife crisis? I loved reading the last page when she writes about someone who really did suffer from cancer, and that woman’s death. She grants one sentence to the woman’s demise, and then immediately talks about her own experiences again.