Cheating Destiny: Living with Diabetes [Paperback]

James S. Hirsch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 6, 2007

A candid, provocative, and moving account of one of America’s fastest-growing health issues

If you or someone you love has diabetes, you are not alone — more than twenty million Americans now live with the disease. In Cheating Destiny, the best-selling author James S. Hirsch offers an incisive, sometimes surprising portrait of diabetes in America. Hirsch is intimately familiar with the disease: he has lived with type 1 diabetes for three decades. His brother, Irl, also a diabetic, is one of the country’s leading diabetologists. Most poignantly, his son Garrett was diagnosed at age three.

Hirsch draws on his unique expertise to provide an engaging blend of reportage, memoir, history, and advocacy. He offers revealing views of life with diabetes: the urge toward secrecy that many diabetics feel, the everyday psychological and emotional hurdles, and the perseverance — even heroism — required for survival. Hirsch takes a look at the science behind the disease and its treatment, and lays bare the impact on our economy, society, and our families. Anyone who lives with diabetes — or loves a diabetic — will find this book essential reading.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Hirsch has written the book that people who care about diabetes have been waiting for . . . Hirsch persuasively illustrates an epidemic that is at odds with modern society at almost every level." The Washington Post

“Hirsch includes material about himself, his brother, and his son to make his searing points." The Seattle Times

About the Author

James S. Hirsch, a former reporter for the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, is the author of Cheating Destiny, the bestseller Hurricane: The Miracle Journey of Rubin Carter, Riot and Remembrance: The Tulsa Race War and Its Legacy, and Two Souls Indivisible: The Friendship That Saved Two POWs in Vietnam. He is also a principal of Close Concerns, a consultancy and publishing company that specializes in diabetes. He lives in the Boston area with his wife, Sheryl, and their children, Amanda and Garrett.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books; Reprint edition (November 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 061891899X
• ISBN-13: 978-0618918997
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #273,597 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!!!, November 21, 2007

By 

V. Rivolta (Missouri) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cheating Destiny: Living with Diabetes (Paperback)

One of the best books I've ever read! A must read for anyone who has or knows someone who has diabetes. I would also encourage all physicians to read this book. My 22 year old daughter, who has Type I, started reading this book one evening and stayed up until 2:00 a.m to finish it. Absolutely loved it!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the best, July 20, 2009

By 

Amanda Priole "ChishioTennyo" (Long Island, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cheating Destiny: Living with Diabetes (Paperback)

There are a million books out there on "living" with diabetes -- what to eat, what NOT to eat, how to plan out a basal scheme, MDI vs. pump, etc. What no one is able to tell you is how to LIVE with diabetes -- the day-to-day toll of testing, counting, and "checking in" with yourself to see if you feel low or high or just right. No one mentions that you have to double your purse size to carry a tester and glucose tabs.

This was the first book I read -- before Pumping Insulin, or Think Like a Pancreas (I was diagnosed at 27, rather than as a child, so my care was literally in my own hands). I found the history of diabetes absolutely fascinating, if rather depressing. Hirch's assertion that one of the worst things about diabetes is the shame and secrecy involved really touched me and made me rethink many of my own behaviors. In fact, the general ignorance of the country is based on this shame and secrecy! (If you don't think the country is ignorant of diabetes, just wait til you hear the question "Is that the good diabetes or the bad one?")

This was a very poingant story, and the only reason it's 4 stars and not 5 is that some of the purely informational places drag a bit -- but they are still very interesting.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This guy can write! A++, June 28, 2010

By 

Mike W (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cheating Destiny: Living with Diabetes (Paperback)

Great book. The author covers much ground--hitting on the emotional, financial, psychological, and political impact of this half-cured disease. He also offers up a terrific summary of the history of diabetes. And bonus--unlike many of the authors who've penned a book on diabetes, this guy can write. In fact, it's one of the best written books on diabetes that I've read.