The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Sloot
Monday, May 17, 2010 Posted In actual book review , ethics , history , medicine , nonfiction , race , racism Edit This 0 Comments »I don't read a lot of nonfiction. Odd, because I'm a voracious consumer of information -- a lifelong learner, I'd like to think -- but I'm very picky about how that information is delivered to me. A lot of nonfiction, sadly, puts me to sleep.
Not so with the fabulous new title The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, an offering of what I'm hearing called "creative nonfiction" written by first-time author Rebecca Skloot (or "Miss Rebecca" as I can't help but think of her after reading this book). I sped through The Immortal Life, unable to put it down at times, as if it were some great suspenseful work of fiction. I spent my time being alternately fascinated, repulsed, drawn in, pushed away, observing, feeling, but mostly learning and absorbing.
The book first caught my eye on store shelves, I admit, because of its strong cover. With such a striking image and great title, I actually thought the book must be some sort of interesting historical fiction. Busy, I left it for another day. That day came when I heard the book's author being interviewed on NPR. Fortunately, for me anyway, the author was able to talk about Henrietta's story in such an engaging way, I wasn't turned off by the nonfiction designation.
If I had to say this book was about any one thing, I would, despite the title, have to say this is the story of Henrietta's daughter, Deborah Lacks, and how she and her family process how their mother's cells have been used (without any express permission) the world over to advance science.
You, like the Lacks family for many years, have probably never heard of HeLa -- the designation for the cultured cancer cells removed from Henrietta's body in the late 1950s. However, you have probably befitted from HeLa if you've had cervical cancer. Or any cancer. Or haven't had polio. Or taken any number of medicines. Or used cosmetics. Or, well, lived and breathed on this earth in the past 50 years or so.
However, the people who have benefited the least are in the Lacks family. The reasons for this are many, and the answers (especially easy ones) are few. A lot of questions are posed in telling the story of Henrietta and her cells -- ones that medical ethicists, some 60 years later, are still struggling to answer.
And Skloot documents them all. The family, the questions, the answers, the science, the scientists... and puts it in a beautiful, engaging, heartfelt package that anyone would enjoy reading. Quite possibly the best book I'll read all year.
Not so with the fabulous new title The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, an offering of what I'm hearing called "creative nonfiction" written by first-time author Rebecca Skloot (or "Miss Rebecca" as I can't help but think of her after reading this book). I sped through The Immortal Life, unable to put it down at times, as if it were some great suspenseful work of fiction. I spent my time being alternately fascinated, repulsed, drawn in, pushed away, observing, feeling, but mostly learning and absorbing.
The book first caught my eye on store shelves, I admit, because of its strong cover. With such a striking image and great title, I actually thought the book must be some sort of interesting historical fiction. Busy, I left it for another day. That day came when I heard the book's author being interviewed on NPR. Fortunately, for me anyway, the author was able to talk about Henrietta's story in such an engaging way, I wasn't turned off by the nonfiction designation.
If I had to say this book was about any one thing, I would, despite the title, have to say this is the story of Henrietta's daughter, Deborah Lacks, and how she and her family process how their mother's cells have been used (without any express permission) the world over to advance science.
You, like the Lacks family for many years, have probably never heard of HeLa -- the designation for the cultured cancer cells removed from Henrietta's body in the late 1950s. However, you have probably befitted from HeLa if you've had cervical cancer. Or any cancer. Or haven't had polio. Or taken any number of medicines. Or used cosmetics. Or, well, lived and breathed on this earth in the past 50 years or so.
However, the people who have benefited the least are in the Lacks family. The reasons for this are many, and the answers (especially easy ones) are few. A lot of questions are posed in telling the story of Henrietta and her cells -- ones that medical ethicists, some 60 years later, are still struggling to answer.
And Skloot documents them all. The family, the questions, the answers, the science, the scientists... and puts it in a beautiful, engaging, heartfelt package that anyone would enjoy reading. Quite possibly the best book I'll read all year.
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