One in Three : A Son's Journey into the History and Science of Cancer

Wishart's title refers to the number of people who will be diagnosed with cancer and his belief that we need to stop talking about the disease in hushed whispers as it becomes something "to live with rather than only die from." Wishart (Leaving Reality Behind), a British TV director and producer, juxtaposes an unflinching account of his father's diagnosis and treatment with a wider look at cancer research. The constant shuttling between past and present has the unfortunate effect of disrupting the emotional momentum of the Wishart family's struggle. Miniportraits of cancer research activists like Mary Lasker and Penny Brohn tell an important story, but never fully mesh with the scenes of the father's slow decline. Individual moments from the personal saga, as when Wishart's father reads a newspaper in a hospital bed because books have become too heavy for his weakened arms, have strong emotional resonance, but too often, when Wishart manages to hook readers into the drama, he veers off into another historical digression. Either narrative strand could have been an effective book in its own right; in putting them together, Wishart hasn't quite created an integrated whole. (Feb.)
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The first time British TV producer Wishart gave much thought to cancer came after his father was diagnosed with it. Then, like anyone who has had to stand helplessly by as life is stolen from a loved one, he began to be consciously consumed by it. Everywhere he and his father turned, they saw only questions with few or no answers. Have there always been cancers? What causes them? Why are so many--one in three will grapple with the disease worldwide, it is estimated--afflicted? With all the attention cancer gets, is science making any headway against it? Together father, a lifelong teacher, and son, a self-described ready student, undertook an in-depth exploration. What they learned the son relays here in an engaging presentation of facts reported with the cool detachment of a professional journalist interspersed with the raw feelings of a son recording the progress of his father's fatal illness, what's right and wrong within the medical community, and the emotional toll on everyone involved with the father and son's journey. Donna Chavez
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