No Time to Die - Softcover

Liz Tilberis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0752843478 ISBN 13: 9780752843476

Publisher: Orion mass market paperback, 2001

Synopsis

In 1993 Liz Tilberis had it all. Having risen to the editorship of British Vogue, she had been hired as editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar, the Bible of US fashion. Moving to America with her husband and two small children she presided over the dazzling relaunch of the magazine, instantly becoming one of the most prominent figures in international media and fashion circles. Then, all at once, the rug was pulled out from under her feet. On the eve of her Christmas party, where the guests included the great and the good from Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, to Randolph Hearst and Barbara Walters, Tilberis was diagnosed with third-stage ovarian cancer. This is her extraordinary account of her career in high fashion and her remarkable battle with cancer, told with immense charm, honesty and wit.

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Review

Liz Tilberis, the editor in chief of Harper's Bazaar magazine, was at the pinnacle of her career when diagnosed with ovarian cancer, one of the disease's deadliest forms. ("When ovarian cancer is detected early, the cure rate is high: at least a 90 percent five-year survival rate for Stage I diagnosis. At Stage IV, they tell you to go home and get your affairs in order," she writes.) In 1993, the day after holding a gala holiday dinner for the likes of Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan, Tilberis underwent exploratory surgery that revealed her cancer was at Stage III. Since then, she has survived three recurrences, massive doses of chemotherapy, and a bone marrow transplant.

Tilberis's book is notable not only for the sanguine humor which she injects throughout, but also for her honesty regarding what she suspects was the cause of her cancer: fertility treatments with the hormone-stimulating drugs Clomid and Pergonal, which she points out are still widely used. (She never conceived a child, but is the mother of two adopted sons.) Tilberis is especially cutting with her descriptions of her coworkers' chilliness and lack of empathy when she first returned to work. It seems that AIDS causes notwithstanding, the world of fashion is still incapable of admitting there is suffering in the world. Tilberis also deserves praise for confessing that her infertility is due to fallopian tube scarring from pelvic inflammatory disease--often caused by sexually transmitted diseases.

No Time to Die and Liz Tilberis are inspiring. While her cancer is in no certain way vanquished, Tilberis chooses to treat it as a chronic condition, not a killer. She's made it her mission to use her magazine platform and her position as president of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund to raise awareness of a complicated and frightening--but possibly preventable--disease. This book is as much a tale of survival and sang-froid as it is an excoriation of the cruelties of the two-faced world of fashion.

From the Back Cover

In 1993 Liz Tilberis seemed to have it all. She was a working mother with a family who adored her. As editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar, she lived at the center of the glamorous world of international fashion and was widely recognized as one of the most powerful people in the industry. Her days were filled with fashion shows and glittering parties. Her circle of friends included Karl Lagerfeld and the Princess of Wales. That year she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The therapy succeeded, but the cancer eventually recurred. This time, treatment involved an excruciating and life-threatening bone marrow transplant. Although drained physically and emotionally, Tilberis conducted editorial meetings from her hospital bed. Today, under her leadership, Harper's Bazaar is one of the world's fashion authorities. She also continues to fight on behalf of other cancer sufferers. As president of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, Liz Tilberis is speaking out about a disease that she believes she developed because of the fertility treatment she underwent years before. This memoir offers a look inside the world of fashion magazines and a candid account of a battle with a debilitating illness.

Edition details

• Publisher: Orion mass market paperback
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0752843478
• ISBN 13: 9780752843476
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 304