More Reading...

    Well,,,,,,,,,,,that was interesting! In the Norwegian American community "that was interesting" is a common euphemism used to comment on something questionable. Like in "How did you like the brussels sprouts ice cream?" The reply "that was interesting." The "that was interesting" opening this paragraph is not in that sense. The book was truly interesting.

    Reading  about metastatic prostate cancer whill being treated for non-metastatic prostate cancer adds a dimension of interest. Unfortunately, Anatole Broyard died of the cancer about which he writes in INTOOXICATED BY MY ILLNESS: And Other Writings on Life and Death. Broyard was a writer, at one time editor of The New York Times Book Review, so, when he was diagnosed with cancer, it was natural for him to write about it. This is not a new book, Broyard died in 1990 and the book was published in 1992.

    Wrestling with his illness Broyard reviews much of what has ben written about sickness. He does not go 'easy into the night.'  One chapter is entitled The Patient Examines the Doctor. His illness is his own which he feels entitles him to evaluate the doctor subjectively.

    The second half of the book is a reprint, THE LITERATURE OF DEATH: 1981-1982. This struck me as the more interesting part of the book. It's largely a report of his fathers death in 1948 from cancer. When his father was diagnosed with terminal cancer the hospital expelled him becasue they didn't treat those they couldn't cure! He was relegated to a general hospital and a multi-bed ward. 

    Today the situation is so very different both in the treatment of the terminally ill and in literature. Much has been written about death and dying since 1982. One of my two readers is a sometime lecturer on the subject of death and dying. To him, I recommend adding this to his library.  To those wrestling with acute illness and those speaking about death and dying, I recommend it, for the rest, read Ann Patchett. 

Takk for alt,

Al