A Pulitzer & an easy read

A Pulitzer & an easy read

SM*SH -There is a new addition to Dr Akshay Anand's collection of medical journals and books ' the Pulitzer Prize winning 'The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer,' by Delhi-born Siddhartha Mukherjee. And some of the colleagues of this neuroscientist at PGI are also curious about this book that has bagged the coveted Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction for 2011, but Dr Akshay is not keen on lending it ' not until he has had his fill of it. 'I want to read each chapter again and again, just like poetry,' said the proud owner of the book.

Unlike other medical books with a lot of technical jargon, it is an interesting and easily comprehensible read.

And Dr Akshay has almost internalised this book as it is close to his heart. Though this doctor is not an oncologist, going through the book has left left him feeling what he has often felt as a scientist, being so close and yet far from that elusive cure, as medical science is still without an answer to the dreaded disease, cancer.

'The book is so engrossing that I finished it in a day. Cancer has been presented as a character in it. It's more a blend of literature and science. My take on this work is that it explores the need to link sciencelab with clinical work and popularize science through narratives,' said Dr Akshay, who also edits the 'Annals of Neurosciences.'

To take a break from the usual reading stuff like patients' case histories and compilation of data on them, this award-winning book has brought a different genre of reading for PGI doctors. And some of them who like reading books that are out of syllabus, placed an order soon after the Pulitzer was announced. 'I had heard about this book from a friend. But did not find time to read it. Now that it

is a Pulitzer winner I have placed an order,' said Dr Meenu Singh, paediatrician at the PGI.

She said, 'The latest book on medical fiction I read was 'My Own Medicine,' which is a personal account of a doctor, who suffers from cancer. These writings are interesting and reflective. We come face to face with life and death often and reading these works helps find a space for such feelings,' she said.
source :
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Many-pluses-A-Pulitzer-an-easy-read/articleshow/8031748.cms