Leni Zumas's writing crackles. Her books are sharp, bleak, funny, and possibly dangerous. When her collection of short stories, Farewell Navigator,...
Continue »
I participated as a book giver in the recent World Book Night, and chose Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks as my book because it was non-fiction, which I enjoy. I thought I should read it before handing out free copies in public. Skloot's book is hard to categorize. It is a little bit of history, popularized science, autobiography, and sociology.
Henrietta Lacks was part of an African-American family of subsistence tobacco farmers living in rural Clover, Virginia. Descended from slaves, her family life of extreme poverty included fighting off incestuous cousins, sleeping on dirt floors and dangerous working conditions. Her cousin, who eventually married her, was not faithful, and infected her with more than one venereal disease. She was the mother of five children, one of whom is likely mentally retarded, although the medical diagnoses of those days used the indescribably cruel category of idiocy. As a result of being infected by her unfaithful husband with HPV, Henrietta contracts cervical cancer. She is treated in the "colored" section of Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore. Scientists at Hopkins, without explaining what they were doing, keep a tissue sample of her cancerous cervix, which turn out to be the source of the first human cells capable of reproducing in a laboratory. The cells, named HeLa, after its donor, are involved in the testing of the polio vaccine and hundreds of other scientific projects. Yet the donor of the cells dies shortly after they are harvested and is buried anonymously in her family's poverty stricken shack compound. Skloots researches the life of Henrietta Lacks, locates and meets with her surviving children, and describes their lives, which are a cross section of modern African-American life. One daughter, Deborah, works two jobs, while taking care of her grandchildren and living from paycheck to paycheck. A son, as a result of the untimely death of Henrietta, becomes an alcoholic murderer, eventually landing in jail and converting to Islam. The retarded, deaf daughter is cruelly institutionalized in a segregated mental institution, never to be seen by the family, which hardly knows she exists.
I found the organization of the book difficult, since Skloots uses a multiple flashback technique, which sometimes results in repetition. The sympathetic way in which she portrays the survivors of Henrietta Lacks was very touching and informative. I found the exposition of ethical issues a little murky, but perhaps that is the point. The cells were taken from a patient without her permission, but given the low educational levels prevalent at that point in history, it is difficult to say if informed consent could have been given.
Rebecca Skloots injects herself into the story in a way which is common among science popularizing authors today, but she most likely would not have been able to gain the insights into the history of the Lacks family. One thing I found haunting is the question whether the typical African-American family can ever survive generations of illegitimacy and ignorance. Skloots' tone is hopeful and positive, but reading between the lines, I wondered if that is justified.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a bestseller, and has won its author a lot of critical acclaim. I found it a little bit flawed, and it seemed to raise a lot more questions than it could possibly answer, so I gave it a 4 out of 5, but I would nonetheless recommend it, and I am glad that I helped distribute copies of it on World Book night.
Olive oil, especially extra virgin olive oil, is an essential ingredient in Italian cuisine, and the cuisines of a lot of other Mediterranean cuisines. There was quite a lot I did not know about olive oils before I read this book. The book even helped me understand my grandparents' own peculiar feelings about cooking with olive oil versus animal fats, which they abhorred. You see my grandparents were from the section of Italy known as Apulia, (the heel of the boot) which has been for centuries, and is today the epicenter of the olive oil world. Not only are massive amounts of olive oil produced in Apulia, but it is also an area where olive oil is often mixed with inferior oils for fraudulent purposes. Tom Mueller visits the subject of corruption in the olive oil industry, which is rife, and the various kinds and classifications of olive oil, the history of olive oil, how it influenced ancient Greek culture, how it was used not merely as foodstuff, but as a cosmetic, a skin treatment, a lubricant, a fuel, a religious ritual and a cultural icon. Mueller could have used a better editor, as I found the organization of the book a little confusing, but nonetheless it was a fascinating read. Highly recommended for any foodie.
I loved this book. Written in 1926 but still fresh today. Marion and George Kerby are ghosts who enliven banker Cosmo Topper's staid life. Light reading, yet satisfying.
Willy Vlautin has created an unusual novel about a teenage boy from a dysfunctional family, whose temporary salvation is an old beaten up horse from the dying world of thoroughbred horse racing on the West Coast. He drifts from one heart breaking situation to another, trying to find the stability in his life that many of us take for granted. Intensely heart-wrenching and original, the story of an innocent boy lost in the world of homeless teenagers and street urchins really spoke to me.
The great hurricane of 1938 was a meteorological freak-- it arose so quickly the national weather bureau did not even forecast it. Forty foot high waves crashed onto the beaches of Long Island and New England. The city of Providence, Rhode Island had water up to the second floor of its high rises. In an era before satellites, radar, and TV, the public was unprepared, and many suffered, hundreds died harrowing deaths. The storm was so ferocious it knocked down church steeples and trees in northern New England, hundreds of miles inland. Cherie Burns does a great job of summarizing this disaster which left many people dead, homeless, or scarred. The book is also very good at capturing a time just before World War II, when people were still reeling from the Depression. Very informative.
Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.
Don't Miss
Customer Comments
peter in port has commented on (54) products.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Thorndike Nonfiction) by Rebecca Skloot
peter in port, April 30, 2012
I participated as a book giver in the recent World Book Night, and chose Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks as my book because it was non-fiction, which I enjoy. I thought I should read it before handing out free copies in public. Skloot's book is hard to categorize. It is a little bit of history, popularized science, autobiography, and sociology.Henrietta Lacks was part of an African-American family of subsistence tobacco farmers living in rural Clover, Virginia. Descended from slaves, her family life of extreme poverty included fighting off incestuous cousins, sleeping on dirt floors and dangerous working conditions. Her cousin, who eventually married her, was not faithful, and infected her with more than one venereal disease. She was the mother of five children, one of whom is likely mentally retarded, although the medical diagnoses of those days used the indescribably cruel category of idiocy. As a result of being infected by her unfaithful husband with HPV, Henrietta contracts cervical cancer. She is treated in the "colored" section of Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore. Scientists at Hopkins, without explaining what they were doing, keep a tissue sample of her cancerous cervix, which turn out to be the source of the first human cells capable of reproducing in a laboratory. The cells, named HeLa, after its donor, are involved in the testing of the polio vaccine and hundreds of other scientific projects. Yet the donor of the cells dies shortly after they are harvested and is buried anonymously in her family's poverty stricken shack compound. Skloots researches the life of Henrietta Lacks, locates and meets with her surviving children, and describes their lives, which are a cross section of modern African-American life. One daughter, Deborah, works two jobs, while taking care of her grandchildren and living from paycheck to paycheck. A son, as a result of the untimely death of Henrietta, becomes an alcoholic murderer, eventually landing in jail and converting to Islam. The retarded, deaf daughter is cruelly institutionalized in a segregated mental institution, never to be seen by the family, which hardly knows she exists.
I found the organization of the book difficult, since Skloots uses a multiple flashback technique, which sometimes results in repetition. The sympathetic way in which she portrays the survivors of Henrietta Lacks was very touching and informative. I found the exposition of ethical issues a little murky, but perhaps that is the point. The cells were taken from a patient without her permission, but given the low educational levels prevalent at that point in history, it is difficult to say if informed consent could have been given.
Rebecca Skloots injects herself into the story in a way which is common among science popularizing authors today, but she most likely would not have been able to gain the insights into the history of the Lacks family. One thing I found haunting is the question whether the typical African-American family can ever survive generations of illegitimacy and ignorance. Skloots' tone is hopeful and positive, but reading between the lines, I wondered if that is justified.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a bestseller, and has won its author a lot of critical acclaim. I found it a little bit flawed, and it seemed to raise a lot more questions than it could possibly answer, so I gave it a 4 out of 5, but I would nonetheless recommend it, and I am glad that I helped distribute copies of it on World Book night.
Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil by Tom Mueller
peter in port, March 29, 2012
Olive oil, especially extra virgin olive oil, is an essential ingredient in Italian cuisine, and the cuisines of a lot of other Mediterranean cuisines. There was quite a lot I did not know about olive oils before I read this book. The book even helped me understand my grandparents' own peculiar feelings about cooking with olive oil versus animal fats, which they abhorred. You see my grandparents were from the section of Italy known as Apulia, (the heel of the boot) which has been for centuries, and is today the epicenter of the olive oil world. Not only are massive amounts of olive oil produced in Apulia, but it is also an area where olive oil is often mixed with inferior oils for fraudulent purposes. Tom Mueller visits the subject of corruption in the olive oil industry, which is rife, and the various kinds and classifications of olive oil, the history of olive oil, how it influenced ancient Greek culture, how it was used not merely as foodstuff, but as a cosmetic, a skin treatment, a lubricant, a fuel, a religious ritual and a cultural icon. Mueller could have used a better editor, as I found the organization of the book a little confusing, but nonetheless it was a fascinating read. Highly recommended for any foodie.Topper (Modern Library) by Thorne Smith
peter in port, February 28, 2012
I loved this book. Written in 1926 but still fresh today. Marion and George Kerby are ghosts who enliven banker Cosmo Topper's staid life. Light reading, yet satisfying.Lean on Pete (P.S.) by Willy Vlautin
peter in port, January 2, 2012
Willy Vlautin has created an unusual novel about a teenage boy from a dysfunctional family, whose temporary salvation is an old beaten up horse from the dying world of thoroughbred horse racing on the West Coast. He drifts from one heart breaking situation to another, trying to find the stability in his life that many of us take for granted. Intensely heart-wrenching and original, the story of an innocent boy lost in the world of homeless teenagers and street urchins really spoke to me.The Great Hurricane: 1938 by Cherie Burns
peter in port, December 7, 2011
The great hurricane of 1938 was a meteorological freak-- it arose so quickly the national weather bureau did not even forecast it. Forty foot high waves crashed onto the beaches of Long Island and New England. The city of Providence, Rhode Island had water up to the second floor of its high rises. In an era before satellites, radar, and TV, the public was unprepared, and many suffered, hundreds died harrowing deaths. The storm was so ferocious it knocked down church steeples and trees in northern New England, hundreds of miles inland. Cherie Burns does a great job of summarizing this disaster which left many people dead, homeless, or scarred. The book is also very good at capturing a time just before World War II, when people were still reeling from the Depression. Very informative.1-5 of 54next