The Emperor of All Maladies--On PBS This Week

Last night was episode number one of the PBS TV special "The Emperor of All Maladies". This three-part special is a masterful collaboration by author/physician/oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee's best-selling, and groundbreaking book about cancer and documentary producer Ken Burns.

I loved Mukherjee's book from page one to the end. He gave us a science story, a history lesson and a very human and humane narrative of what most of us never learned about what cancer is, why it is, and what it means to treat it--and the history of those treatments. His research and writing put everything we say about cancer (including "lets cure it") into a greater context.

Add Ken Burns (The Civil War, Baseball and The Roosevelts) and you know you'll get great images and a sound track that will carry you through all of the inevitable emotions.

Suggestion: Record the series. Just in case you want to save it to share with others, or just in case you want to pace yourself, especially if you are a cancer patient, survivor or caregiver. You can also watch the series any time on the web at PBS.org.

And of course a movie is never able to capture the book--it's always the essence or the flavor of the original. So please also get your own copy of "The Emperor of All Maladies".
It is a book that will help
you understand cancer and why we all struggle with it--as we do culturally as well as personally.

Here's a tiny clip from the PBS documentary:
http://video.pbs.org/video/2365439914/