Features
- Cover Type: Hard Cover with 256 pages
- Published by: Spiegel & Grau
- Edition: 1st Edition April 1, 2008
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0385520409
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0385520409
-
Book Dimensions:
8.5 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
- Weighs: 12 ounces
From Publishers Weekly
TV writer Queller (
The Gilmore Girls) was 31, single and healthy when her mother succumbed to ovarian cancer at the age of 58, having battled breast cancer six years earlier. Queller chronicles her mother's long and anguished struggle in vivid detail. After her mother's death, at the suggestion of an acquaintance, Queller opted to discover whether she carries the breast cancer gene; indeed, she tested positive for the BRCA-1 gene mutation, which gave her an 87% chance of breast cancer before age 50 and a 44% chance of ovarian cancer in her lifetime. With this knowledge in hand, Queller began the journey toward her pivotal choice: a prophylactic double mastectomy at age 35. Along the way she traveled between the West Coast and
New York City, seeking medical opinions, information and unsuccessfully—but not for lack of trying—a man she can love who will father her children before she follows up with voluntary surgery to remove her ovaries. This Hollywood writer's story is seamless and gripping; readers will be rooting for Queller and her heroic decision to confront her genetic destiny.
(Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Product Review
“By turns inspiring, sorrowful and profoundly moving. Queller’s sense of humor and grace transform the most harrowing of situations into a riveting and heartfelt memoir.” –
Kirkus Reviews
“Seamless and gripping. Readers will be rooting for Queller and her heroic decision to confront her genetic destiny.” –
Publishers Weekly
“Jessica Queller gives us a warm, chilling, unflinching look at her personal journey of survival with style. The ending will surprise you. Her prescience is astounding. Her courage is inspirational. Brava Jessica!” – Marisa Acocella Marchetto, author of
Cancer Vixen
Reader ReviewsI loved this book. Jessica Queller is a talented writer with a gripping story, one she tells with honesty and without sentiment. With a fascinating sweep through the author's family history, around the brave new world of DNA fortune-telling, and into her own personal relationships and how they are affected by the explosive power of the BRCA gene, her style is both intimate and intelligent. This is not a dark and somber story. Queller is able to maintain a sense of humor about herself while getting to the scary nub of it all - the life-and-death decisions, the thorny issues of fate and afterlife - and ends the book on a note of inspired hope. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a great read. It is not necessarily, even, a cancer book. It is a book about the triumph of will, passion, and self-determination.
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