Five Lessons I Didn't Learn From Breast Cancer (And One Big One I Did)
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By: Shelley Lewis
Format: Paperback
From: NAL Trade
Pub. Date: April 2008
From: NAL Trade
Pub. Date: April 2008
Product Details:
Catalog: Book
Release Date: 2008-05-06
Media: Paperback
Number Of Pages: 272
Ean: 9780451223906
Isbn: 045122390X
Catalog: Book
Release Date: 2008-05-06
Media: Paperback
Number Of Pages: 272
Ean: 9780451223906
Isbn: 045122390X
ABOUT THE BOOK
EDITORIAL REVIEW
An irreverent, funny, compassionate look at what having breast cancer means—and what it doesn’t.
From the pink ribbons to the websites that sell related accessories and stuffed animals, breast cancer has morphed from a disease to an experience. And at every step of the way, society tells women that this experience can teach them profound lessons and maybe even give them a peek at the meaning of life.
But what if it doesn’t?
Before Shelley Lewis got breast cancer she was a smart, edgy network producer. After the long month of treatment ended, she was still a smart, edgy network producer. The cancer was gone but in its place there was no epiphany, no new perspective on life. Lewis found that for herself and other women, breast cancer was many things, but it was not necessarily an opportunity for self-improvement. It didn’t teach them lessons, but surviving it did draw on hard-won life lessons they’d already learned.
A wonderful interweaving of the author’s personal story, interviews with breast cancer survivors, and a sharp-eyed journalist’s look at the breast cancer “community,” this book is full of unconventional wisdom, unexpected advice, and hilarious observations about life inside the pink bubble.
From the pink ribbons to the websites that sell related accessories and stuffed animals, breast cancer has morphed from a disease to an experience. And at every step of the way, society tells women that this experience can teach them profound lessons and maybe even give them a peek at the meaning of life.
But what if it doesn’t?
Before Shelley Lewis got breast cancer she was a smart, edgy network producer. After the long month of treatment ended, she was still a smart, edgy network producer. The cancer was gone but in its place there was no epiphany, no new perspective on life. Lewis found that for herself and other women, breast cancer was many things, but it was not necessarily an opportunity for self-improvement. It didn’t teach them lessons, but surviving it did draw on hard-won life lessons they’d already learned.
A wonderful interweaving of the author’s personal story, interviews with breast cancer survivors, and a sharp-eyed journalist’s look at the breast cancer “community,” this book is full of unconventional wisdom, unexpected advice, and hilarious observations about life inside the pink bubble.
USER REVIEWS
"Is it possible to be this sardonic and compassionate at the same time?
Shelley Lewis opens the windows in the stuffy room of bumper sticker spirituality. Funny and caring in a Nora Ephron way and yet full of useful info. I read it as a story, not as a way to face breast cancer, and I recommend it to doctors and patients. You don't have to have breast cancer to enjoy this book. Another book I recommend to anyone facing a "devastating diagnosis" is Jessie Gruman's Aftershock."
~ Written on 2008-08-30
Shelley Lewis opens the windows in the stuffy room of bumper sticker spirituality. Funny and caring in a Nora Ephron way and yet full of useful info. I read it as a story, not as a way to face breast cancer, and I recommend it to doctors and patients. You don't have to have breast cancer to enjoy this book. Another book I recommend to anyone facing a "devastating diagnosis" is Jessie Gruman's Aftershock."
~ Written on 2008-08-30
"Thanks you Shelly for letting me know that I am not alone!
I am in the middle of my chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer and I WAS feeling lousy for not finding the "silver lining" and not experiencing the upliftling life changing moment I was supposed to get from having cancer.
She really gave me alot to think about, namely that its ok to have my own experience and it's ok if it really sucks.
Thanks for writing this book Shelly!"
~ Written on 2008-08-11
I am in the middle of my chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer and I WAS feeling lousy for not finding the "silver lining" and not experiencing the upliftling life changing moment I was supposed to get from having cancer.
She really gave me alot to think about, namely that its ok to have my own experience and it's ok if it really sucks.
Thanks for writing this book Shelly!"
~ Written on 2008-08-11
"Being a 3 time breast cancer repeat offender, this book rang more true than any of the others I have read. I was beginning to feel guilty about not having a spiritual experience until I read this book. Also I was getting quite peeved about "the race" because they don't interview people with multiple occurences. They only show happy, happy, happy faces of those with 1 occurence. What are we, chopped liver?
This book has made me rethink my advice to first time offenders. It is certainly the most honest book I have read about this awful disease. I highly recommend it to any breast cancer patient or family member of patient."
~ Written on 2008-06-25
This book has made me rethink my advice to first time offenders. It is certainly the most honest book I have read about this awful disease. I highly recommend it to any breast cancer patient or family member of patient."
~ Written on 2008-06-25
"Part memoir, part how-to book, "The Five Lessons I Didn't Learn from Breast Cancer" has universal appeal for all sorts of cancers, even the "non-female" kind like my non Hodgkin's lymphoma. Though there are plenty of how-to tips for newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, I enjoyed this book because of Lewis' take on the "Tyranny of Positive Thinking" and the pinkapalooza cartel. I respect her choice not to call herself a "survivor," though I wonder if it's really because, as she says, Death wasn't at her door, but rather sent her a "Thinking of You Card." (For me, Death had pulled into the driveway and parked the car.) Never whiny and often downright funny, this book is a must-read for anyone who has been sucker punched by cancer."
~ Written on 2008-06-04
~ Written on 2008-06-04
"This is a wonderful book, an intelligent and deeply personal account of one woman's experience with breast cancer. At times poignant, at times laugh-out-loud funny, Shelley Lewis does not hold back in describing her journey from diagnosis to treatment to recovery. With a sharp and cynical eye, she pokes a thousand holes in the breast-cancer-as-essential-on-the-path-to-true-enlightenment script put forward by scribes who would have you believe that breast cancer is a gratifying experience, (chicken soup for the soul, if you will), without which you will never find the true meaning of life.
Shelley also takes on the cause awareness industry that reaps the benefits of breast cancer awareness, (Pink Ribbon Barbie anyone?) and challenges the medical industry and our government to work harder to isolate the causes of breast cancer and to better treat the disease once it's found.
This book is recommended reading for friends and family of women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. It will give you great insight in to the best ways to be most helpful while the one you love is going through this cancer.
Most of all, for any woman who has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and is overwhelmed by the choices that need to be made, bewildered too, and maybe just a little out of sync with the breast-cancer-will-change-you-make-you-a-better-person crowd, when you are quite sure you were a pretty fine person all along, this book is most certainly for you. "
~ Written on 2008-06-03
Shelley also takes on the cause awareness industry that reaps the benefits of breast cancer awareness, (Pink Ribbon Barbie anyone?) and challenges the medical industry and our government to work harder to isolate the causes of breast cancer and to better treat the disease once it's found.
This book is recommended reading for friends and family of women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. It will give you great insight in to the best ways to be most helpful while the one you love is going through this cancer.
Most of all, for any woman who has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and is overwhelmed by the choices that need to be made, bewildered too, and maybe just a little out of sync with the breast-cancer-will-change-you-make-you-a-better-person crowd, when you are quite sure you were a pretty fine person all along, this book is most certainly for you. "
~ Written on 2008-06-03