The Tale of Homer and Langley Collyer's lives as told by E.L Doctorow exists where truth and fiction collide in a collosal collection of clutter, detritis, and "treasures" gathered over a lifetime of making their way in the world.
Brothers caught up in the events of 20th century New York, the Collyers are managing as best they can in a world that is passing them by. The material collected by Langley is originally a manageable assortment of newspapers, interesting items, and novelties. As time passes, the enormous piles of stuff consume their lives until they pass away under mountains of junk.
Assisted and befriended by a southern cook and her grandson, the Hoshiyamas, and assorted hippies, the brothers continue to observe life and carry on with a model T in the dining room and plans for an all-purpose, universal newspaper that Langley will create from all the newspapers stacking up around the house.
This blend of fact and fiction is an interesting historical view and was generally appreciated by our group as a light summer read and a cautionary tale by those of us with basements and closets to clean out before we are really in too deep.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
This true story of Henrietta Lacks and her family is wrapped in a well written and captivating novel that begs the reader to find out more about this historic woman. Henrietta died of an aggressive form of cervical cancer in 1951 that produced the most prolific cell culture line in the world. Her cells are known as HeLa cells, named using the first two initials of her first and last names. HeLa cells were historic for being the first cells to stay alive in culture, replicate at a very rapid pace and be available by mail order for researchers throughout the world. They have been used more than any other cell culture line to perform research such as the development of the polio vaccine, cancer treatment drugs and knowledge about HIV Rebecca Skloot took ten years to research and write this book. The book includes a Cast of Characters, a Timeline, an extensive Index and detailed notes to document the research that provides the foundation for the story. Rebecca built the story around the facts while always keeping the people as the focus. Readers who have little knowledge of biology or research methods will still easily follow the story and the medical implication of HeLa cells.
The book takes the reader forward and backward in time to build anticipation of what happens to Henrietta and her family. Rebecca became a trusted associate and friend of Henrietta's family, particularly her youngest daughter, Deborah. She balanced her deep interest in learning all she could about Henrietta and her family while maintaining respect for all of them and the medical establishments involved. She was very careful to bring only positive attention to them and to assist them in learning more about their mother. Each medical establishment employee and every family member is developed gradually throughout the book. There is a focus on each of Henrietta’s children that represents the relationship they had to Henrietta, with much of the book telling Deborah’s story.
This book blends science, history and ethics while telling an incredible true story about one woman whose death and subsequent cell growth has had a monumental impact on medical research that has saved countless lives. Henrietta’s contribution to science could only be fully realized by her family because of Rebecca Skloot’s creative efforts to research and write this book.
This true story of Henrietta Lacks and her family is wrapped in a well written and captivating novel that begs the reader to find out more about this historic woman. Henrietta died of an aggressive form of cervical cancer in 1951 that produced the most prolific cell culture line in the world. Her cells are known as HeLa cells, named using the first two initials of her first and last names. HeLa cells were historic for being the first cells to stay alive in culture, replicate at a very rapid pace and be available by mail order for researchers throughout the world. They have been used more than any other cell culture line to perform research such as the development of the polio vaccine, cancer treatment drugs and knowledge about HIV Rebecca Skloot took ten years to research and write this book. The book includes a Cast of Characters, a Timeline, an extensive Index and detailed notes to document the research that provides the foundation for the story. Rebecca built the story around the facts while always keeping the people as the focus. Readers who have little knowledge of biology or research methods will still easily follow the story and the medical implication of HeLa cells.
The book takes the reader forward and backward in time to build anticipation of what happens to Henrietta and her family. Rebecca became a trusted associate and friend of Henrietta's family, particularly her youngest daughter, Deborah. She balanced her deep interest in learning all she could about Henrietta and her family while maintaining respect for all of them and the medical establishments involved. She was very careful to bring only positive attention to them and to assist them in learning more about their mother. Each medical establishment employee and every family member is developed gradually throughout the book. There is a focus on each of Henrietta’s children that represents the relationship they had to Henrietta, with much of the book telling Deborah’s story.
This book blends science, history and ethics while telling an incredible true story about one woman whose death and subsequent cell growth has had a monumental impact on medical research that has saved countless lives. Henrietta’s contribution to science could only be fully realized by her family because of Rebecca Skloot’s creative efforts to research and write this book.
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