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WAKING UP/FIGHTING BACK

THE POLITICS OF BREAST CANCER

Controlled anger suffuses this thorough scrutiny of the state of breast cancer research, prevention, treatment, and attitudes by an activist and survivor. Altman, a journalist, is now a cancer information specialist at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. She has studded her survey with attention-grabbing quotes and statistics and complacency-shattering stories. The reliability of mammograms, the possible impact of hormone replacement therapy on breast cancer risk, the bewildering array of surgical options— all these and more are considered here. As the title indicates, Altman's context is broadly political: She considers the role of government and manufacturers in the high cost of drugs; the well- established tendency of medical researchers to overlook women's health; the role of income and race in breast cancer incidence and survival rates. Women with specific questions will find that too often, as Altman reports, the answers simply aren't known yet. She argues persuasively that since present methods of treatment—surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, for which she adopts breast surgeon Susan Love's terms ``slash, burn, and poison''—have had little impact on the lifetime survival rates of women with breast cancer, prevention is key. She also warns women about the paternalistic attitudes and insensitivity of some male physicians and problems breast cancer survivors face with medical insurance and job discrimination (one high-level executive was told, ``You will never manage again in this company. You are emotionally and physically incapable''). An appendix includes an extensive resource list and a directory of grassroots organizations, for Altman's aim is twofold: not simply raising the awareness of women that they must take responsibility for their own bodies but persuading them to join in the growing advocacy movement to increase funding for breast cancer research. Altman warns that this book may cause ``some anxiety, discomfort, and fear.'' She's right. It's not for those seeking hope and solace.

Pub Date: April 15, 1996

ISBN: 0-316-03532-7

Page Count: 432

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1996

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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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