Siddhartha Mukherjee, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer (Scribner, $30). An extraordinarily compelling history of a disease that once was unmentionable and is now a national obsession. Mukherjee’s theme is the way in which the preternaturally stubborn resolve of generation after generation of cancer researchers has led them to make great scientific discoveries–then prevented them from seeing the flaws in their theories that are discovered by their successors. Sobering and splendidly well written (TT).
Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City
An ArtsJournal Blog