That is the terrifying conclusion of Casey Means, author of Good Energy: the surprising connection between metabolism and limitless health. This book was recommended to me by my optometrist, of all people! I was simply in for my annual eye checkup, and we got to talking about holistic health, and before the end of the day, I was immersed in yet another life-changing book – and this one, I am convinced, you must read.
Read MoreWritten by Siddhartha Mukherjee – abstracted by Lynn Gerlach
Published in 2010; given to me by a friend in 2015; abstracted in 2023
Note to my reader: The author, Siddhartha Mukherjee, calls cancer “a lethal shape-shifting entity… the defining plague of our generation.” He refers to his book as “an attempt to enter the mind of this immortal illness” which is, in its many forms, the abnormal growth of cells.
The book is a 4,000-year history of cancer and the “hypnotic, obsessive quest to launch a national ‘War on Cancer’” by two key individuals: Sydney Farber, “the father of modern chemotherapy,” and Mary Lasker, a Manhattan socialite. Mukherjee notes that the book is also “a personal journey of my coming of age as an oncologist.”
For me, the reader who hopes to cull for you an abbreviated but authentic version of this 400+ page history, it is also “a personal journey” that has allowed me to find my own cancer story within the context of the 4000-year war. This is a long book and a long abstract. My hope is that, when you’ve finished reading my abstract, you’ll go directly to Dr. Mukherjee’s book.
Read MoreIt’s the iconic image of the decade - the inexplicable and infuriating juxtaposition of the Amazon rain forest ablaze and the U.S. President lying to skip out on the G-7 climate crisis meeting! What Donald Trump will never understand - and what you and I simply must grasp - is that climate change is a fact now, not something coming down the pike someday, perhaps.
Read MoreAbout a year ago a journalist I find most trustworthy recommended a book that seemed well suited to my unease about the direction our nation was headed. Fareed Zakaria pitched How Democracies Die by Steven Livitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. I read the book; it did not quell my fears for our country. In fact, it convinced me that our democracy might be in more serious danger than I’d first thought.
Read MoreWhat a breath of fresh air! A book in 2018 that has no political bent and no ax to grind. Fifty Inventions that Shaped the Modern Economy by Tim Harford doesn’t even claim these are the fifty most important inventions. He just treats us to a delightful history of fifty inventions and shows the undeniable impact each has had on today’s economy. Even if you’re not a student of the economy, it’s a fun read with no hidden agenda and no allegiance to any political party.
Read MoreProbably not. But have we ever seen a period in our lifetime when more people hoped more fervently to change more minds – but were ever so nervous about trying to do so? Did you ever before walk on eggs like you’re walking on eggs now? Biting your tongue? Holding back with strangers – nice, friendly folk you genuinely like – because they might be “on the other side”? Carefully remembering not to tread on certain ground with family because one can never be sure who’s in what camp?
But, oh, how we’d like to change their minds! And how they’d like to change ours! In many cases, I think, we also long to change our own minds.
Read MoreEach week Fareed Zakaria, host of CNN’s Global Public Square, recommends another book for me to read. I listen to Fareed because I believe he is one of the smartest, most balanced and intellectually curious journalists of our time. Consequently, each week my reading list grows. When Fareed recommended How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, I moved it to the top of my list
Read MoreLet’s kick that “scarcity” perspective for 2017
Yes, I know this is meant to be a space to talk about communication. On the other hand, what element of human interaction does not involve communication? So I’m giving myself wide latitude here today, and I’m going to share with my readers the bounty – the uplifting, optimistic, promising bounty – I have discovered over the past year in two works that nicely bookend a world perspective based on positive expectations.
Read MoreRetreat from the crush of communication.
Take refuge in a book. That’s the best I can offer, and I offer it with confidence that it is, indeed, the best advice you’re going to get today!
I’ve been wounded (perhaps not mortally) by the use of language over the past year to bully and frighten, cudgel and cajole the great unthinking masses. And it continues, as if neither the losers nor the winners can be satisfied with the results. It is hard to bear.
Now for the good news: I have borne it with the help of one of North America’s most fabulous novelists.
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