Breast Cancer Journal: A Century of Petals [Paperback]

Juliet Wittman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1994

Named as a finalist for the 1993 National Book Award in Nonfiction, this exceptional book is now available in paperback. Wittman's diagnosis, treatment, and recovery is not about breast cancer as cold statistics or medically prescribed regimens; it's about a woman's life. Ties-in to National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October).

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This NBA nominee is Whittman's courageous account of a year-long battle with breast cancer.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Breast cancer is epidemic in the United States today, which explains the explosion of works on the topic. This book, a very personal journal, discusses the disease from diagnosis and surgery to traditional and alternative therapies. The author found the tumor herself, had it confirmed by a mammogram, had surgery, and underwent a variety of therapies. Because breast cancer is now considered a systemic disease, radical surgery is not recommended when the tumor is in its early stages. Cancer experts now agree that patients who take control of their treatment have the best prognosis. Wittman did just that, and her story is uplifting. A resource guide, a section on "what I wish I'd known," and discussions on tamoxifen and the link between cancer and birth control pills make this a definitive work. Read with Joyce Wadler's My Breast ( LJ 9/15/92) and Paul Kuehn's Breast Care Options for the 1990's ( LJ 8/91), it would help anyone to cope with this terrifying disease.
- Janet M. Coggan, Univ. of Florida Libs., Gainesville
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing (October 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555911943
• ISBN-13: 978-1555911942
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,929,568 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book, November 17, 2007

By 

John Thorndike "Author: The Last of His Mind:... (Athens, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Breast Cancer Journal: A Century of Petals (Paperback)

I read this book years ago when an acquaintance was going through a hard struggle with breast cancer. This year, after my girlfriend was diagnosed with lung cancer, I read it again. Two different cancers, but the same beautiful book, which I find measured, comprehensive and full of quiet inspiration. Wittman doesn't write around the topic. She's in a life-and-death struggle, but keeps a level head about it, even a bit of humor. She's never insistent. She doesn't tell the reader what to do, but presents, in simple, pane-of-glass prose, the wide range of therapies she herself pursued in the battle against her cancer. She follows standard medical treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy, but also explores meditation, changes in diet, visualization and the use of Chinese herbs.

Once nominated for the National Book Award, Breast Cancer Journal is a graceful portrait of a harrowing disease, and of one woman's fight against it. As I read it a second time, and shared it with my girlfriend, I appreciated how well it has stood up over time.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I liked this book!, August 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Breast Cancer Journal: A Century of Petals (Paperback)

Juliet Wittman, a Boulder, Colorado journalist, was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer in 1988. She underwent surgery, chemo, radiation and tamoxifen follow-up and has had no recurrence at the time of this publication. She had what her doctor labeled "a standard garden variety breast cancer" and treatment. So what's the big deal? The big deal is how well she communicates the experience and how well she got to know the ins and outs of cancer-world. Often there's a sting to what she says, e.g. "I loved stories about a sister, friend, mother, aunt who had survived breast cancer and lived into old age, but not when the details were unconvincing." [134] Her observations of fellow sufferers can be telling, as in the case of the advanced stage people who were mixed in with early stage people in a support group: "These people look at us silently. They know the difference between us and them. They know that they, too, constructed a list of reasons to expect to stay well forever. But then one day, feeling strong and secure, they'd felt a lump or a small ache. Or received a notice from their doctors that the latest blood test revealed tumor activity. Suddenly they had tumbled off the little perch of safety we all cling to into the abyss. ...These dying men and women want to protect us from that knowledge. And they also want to rub our noses in it." [244-45] Her critique of the mind-over-matter schools and cancer-personality-theory is as astute as any I've read. At the end of the book, there's a nice little appendix titled "What I Wish I'd Known When I Was First Diagnosed." All in all an excellent contribution. Will appeal to: The educated and skeptical who are fully aware of their danger but not terribly sick.

5.0 out of 5 stars You can't put it down once you begin to read this book!, March 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Breast Cancer Journal: A Century of Petals (Paperback)

Juliet's book is one of the best out there dealing with the real issues of breast cancer. It made me laugh and made me cry, but most of all, it made me love the author. Her story is told in a very special way. You must read this one! You won't be sorry!!!!