Book Reviews
Explore what readers think about my books
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Prof : Arnie Levine, Princeton University
"I started your book on July 4th, which I think has signified our independence as old men entitled to health, happiness and the time to enjoy it, and finished it on July 5th which signifies that I really liked it and could not put it down.
I love the way the book bounces back and forth between the patient, his family and the science and scientists. the counterpoint is stark. I loved the statement made by example that every scientist had a different national origin- all collected in the USA- Which signifies the gift you and I have had knowing so many diverse and interesting people WELL from almost all over the world.. I loved the description of Yacov meeting Graham the first time as he stands in respect, is a little overwhelmed and not sure how to act. For most cancer researchers a petri dish of cells is remote not a person. Yacov is just as I was when I first met Li Fraumeni patients, people, who inherit Tp53 mutations and develop cancers most of their lives. It changed my research focus when I attended my first Li Fraumeni meeting along with 100 patients and their children. You developed the characters and their personalities of the family, their love, fears, changes, insights and pasts but were sparse with the scientists and doctors and that gave the story contrast and focused the reader (even a scientist like me) on the family and their terrible situation. Cynthia was developed the deepest and my hopes were for her as such a remarkable women in a deeper sense than Graham was. For those of us who know you, who grew up with you, we get the deep use of Hebrew, Yiddish, Sanskript, Hindi, languages which enforce the cultural breadth of the science community and reflect your own background.
You had a choice, and I am happy you let Graham live to see his grandchild one of the greatest joys of life- the generational passing. And as usual Jamie Simon designed an interesting cover- In the Euclidean world, a flat surface, parallel lines never meet, but in a non-Euclidian word the shortest distance between two points is not a straight line but a great arc. Two great arcs will meet and so the cover places a spherical surface next to a flat plane : the worlds of patients and cancer researchers and the three leading characters will meet as we transition from 2 to 3 dimensional space.
I had fun guessing who the background and the personalities of the scientist and the doctor were taken from in real life, after all nothing is totally original. I think the scientist is taken from multiple sources but are you the doctor? Is that a secrete desire? well enough analysis. Thanks for the great read, I enjoyed it and I enjoy knowing the author over a lifetime. Stay well and I look forward to getting together in the near future. " -
Suresh Kumar
“Once I started to read, I couldn`t put it down"