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LEGENDS AND LEGACIES

: PERSONAL JOURNEYS OF WOMEN PHYSICIANS AND SCIENTISTS AT M.D. ANDERSON CANCER CENTER

Compelling personal journeys to careers in medicine.

A collection of first-person essays written by standout female doctors and researchers at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

The book features 26 essays of varying literary skill, but all contain fascinating personal histories. From the women who struggled to enter the "boy’s club" of medicine to those who methodically planned their careers from childhood, these women have made astounding accomplishments not limited to their work in operating theaters or research labs. The authors raised families, struggled with personal relationships, made medical discoveries and fought their own battles with illness. One was born and raised in India before coming to the United States, where she worked toward her doctorate while simultaneously learning to drive in university parking lots. She is now a professor of experimental therapeutics. Another had a fighting spirit instilled at her from the start–her African-American mother insisted upon giving birth in a whites-only St. Louis hospital that offered the advanced medical care her premature daughter desperately needed. That baby eventually became a professor of pulmonary medicine. In another compelling tale, a woman who lived in Hiroshima lost a schoolmate to cancer from exposure to the atomic bomb. Her life’s work was launched from that loss, and she is now a professor of radiation oncology. Even those with more prosaic middle-class American upbringings still displayed incredible persistence in pursuing their goals. One constant in these stories is the many stops on the way to employment at this world-class cancer treatment center. Though some of the essays read more like clinical notes than a personal history, the personal narratives remain engaging.

Compelling personal journeys to careers in medicine.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008

ISBN: 978-0-9753878-1-8

Page Count: -

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 27, 2010

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NUTCRACKER

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.

Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955

ISBN: 0670717797

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955

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