"Mr. Wishart reports that during his years of writing and talking casually about cancer, he had a horrifying effect on others. Hearing him, listeners would shiver or quail or walk away. But his book does not prompt that kind of response: Mr. Wishart has done copious research and used it to shape a story more gripping than frightening ... [he] remains too erudite and civilized to succumb to fear."
How good is that?
LINK
The wonderful Andrew Leonard at Salon has written the first American review of the book.
"Wishart's genius is in combining the wrenching story of his father's cancer with the broader medical history of humanity's struggle to understand and treat the hydra-headed disease. ... To provide hope to others in the midst of his own sorrow is a marvelous achievement: "One in Three" is a fine piece of work."
LINK (its free, you just have to watch the ad)
“ONE IN THREE shines like a good deed in a world full of unnecessary books…… Wishart has produced a book that is informative, balanced, accessible, and absolutely riveting.” David Lodge's Pick of 2006 in the Guardian, author of Changing Places, Small World.
"For clinicians, this book may be a useful source of information to recommend to patients, or it may serve simply as an interesting read into how contemporary cancer research and treatment came into being." LANCET ONCOLOGY
“Adam Wishart's extraordinary book will be indispensable to anyone dealing with cancer, because it is so clear-eyed, so measured, so informative, and so quietly moving. He elegantly integrates the history of cancer research with the story of his father's illness. In doing so, he makes abstract science accessible and dignifies a human story with the insights of medicine. After reading this book, you have not only more knowledge, but also more insight and compassion.”
Andrew Solomon, author of Noonday Demon, a New York Times bestseller
“Wishart succeeds brilliantly in constructing a narrative that is a tribute both to his father and the scientists who have partly unpacked the mystery of cancer” Simon Singh, Sunday Telegraph
“An imaginative fusion of anecdotal detail, medical science and poignant, elegiac narrative marks every chapter of this unusual book.....Wishart’s book inhabits a remarkable genre of its own.” John Cornwell, The Sunday Times
"Wishart seamlessly weaves together the personal, the historical and the scientific threads of his narrative to tell the story of cancer" The Guardian
“[An] immaculately researched tale of medicine's struggle with cancer..” Lindsay Banham, The Lancet.
“ONE IN THREE offers real hope.” British Medical Journal.
“From one family’s cancer fight comes a book to help us all.’ Brian McIver, Daily Record
“ONE IN THREE is a consuming read. Part history lesson, part sociological study, part scientific journey, Wishart artfully serves up the right mixture of technical terminology, explanation and personal story….. Moments are beautifully described … and it is a privilege to be given such access to the workings of the human heart.” Jacqueline Burton, Sunday Business Post.
“Calm, factual, beautifully written, intelligent and moving. ... this book brings understanding, and most of all it also brings some hope.” Literary Review
“A neat and moving blend of science and the intensely personal.” Mary Braid, Sunday Times in Scotland
“Perhaps the most readable and comprehensive account out there of our battle with the big C." Michael Bond, New Scientist
“An amazing book - it stands out as being an intelligent, balanced review of a complex and emotive subject. It's simply the best in its class today. Essential reading for anyone who has cancer or loves someone with the disease." Karol Sikora, Professor of Oncology, Imperial College London, advisor to WHO Cancer Program
"This emotionally charged account distinguishes itself not simply in the way it gracefully meshes together complex, competing theories about the disease, but in its generous use of a loved one as a case study." Kim Hjelmgaard, Scotland on Sunday
ONE IN THREE has been pleasingly picked in some of the pre-christmas roundups.
In the Observer.
Some words of praise for Adam Wishart's One in Three. Subtitled 'A son's journey into the history and science of cancer', the book interweaves two very different narratives: the history of cancer research and the story of how Wishart's father contracted and finally succumbed to the condition. The former sections are models of scientific clarity, the latter are powerfully written - and profoundly moving.
Link.
In the Sunday Times:
Although it enters a crowded field, Wishart’s account of his father’s death from cancer is moving, medically informed and exceptionally well written. Multiplying cancer cells are likened to “useless hotel bellhops passing on every bit of foyer gossip as a genuine message”. The aim, to dispel the “blind terror” that the c-word still evokes, is generously fulfilled, while he never shrinks from describing the irreparable loss of a parent’s death.
Link: Blowing their own trumpets .
And by David Lodge in the Guardian:
Adam Wishart's One in Three (Profile) interweaves a moving, but unsentimental, account of his father's last illness and death from cancer with a history of the disease and its treatment from classical to modern times. Informative, balanced, accessible, and absolutely riveting.
Link: Take a leaf out of their books .
'As well as admirably filling the gap that the Wisharts identified for an intelligent and humane account of cancer, this wise, dignified book will contribute to a rejection of unsatisfactory theories and practices and the adoption of something better."
"The scientific and clinical content of the book is accurate, engaging, and accessible to those with little scientific knowledge... sections of the book impressively convey issues that people sometimes grapple with"
"Wishart seamlessly weaves together the personal, the historical and the scientific threads of his narrative to tell the story of cancer from the perspective of his father's illness. The result is both moving and informative, a book that tries to answer the questions Wishart's father asked when he was first diagnosed: what is cancer and why haven't we managed to cure it yet?"
There is a lovely review from a message board:
"I'm someone who finds the shedloads of rubbish (to quote Kate Carr) on the shelves about cancer very depressing and undermining and isolating, but this book is exciting, powerful, real. A bonus too is that Wishart's father was, like me, an atheist and a humanist and so both father and son's attitude to death is eminently refreshing."
LINK for a bit more.
Moments are beautifully described in One in Three and it is a privilege to be given such access to the workings of the human heart. And yet, they are sparsely sprinkled over the course of this book......One in Three is a consuming read. Part history lesson, part sociological study, part scientific journey, Wishart artfully serves up the right mixture of technical terminology, explanation and personal story.
LINK.
"Riveting and moving stuff and a wonderful antedote if you're fed up with happy clappy celebrity survivor stories and glossy cancer charrity booklets."
I am Adam Wishart, a writer and documentary maker. I wrote ONE IN THREE : a son's journey into the history and science of cancer. It was nominated for the Royal Society Book Prize.
Read the Book's Introduction
I started it because my dad fell ill with cancer, and I wanted a book which answered some of my basic questions: how did he get it, would he be healed and why was there no cure?
"An amazing book" says Professor Karol Sikora. "Riveting" says David Lodge
Before that I wrote LEAVING REALITY BEHIND.
"An important story and as absorbing as a well crafted thriller." The Financial Times Other reviews.
And before that I made documentaries for the BBC. One of which won an RTS Award.
To contact me please email me at adam (at) adamwishart.info
