Customer Reviews

Living Downstream: An Ecologist's Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment

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I've worked for a number of years as an environmental lawyer and had often heard of this book from colleagues. I finally decided to read it recently and was glad I did. The author conveys an incredible amount of information about environmental connections to cancer -- some of it quite shocking -- while at the same time telling her own story dealing with cancer and tracing and understanding its potential origins. The book is always readable in spite of the great amounts of data and analysis presented. In fact, Steingraber's writing is excellent, at times even poetic, never dry, boring or overly technical. While this is a personal narrative it is also much more. She presents a whole new vision for the way we -- as a society -- should approach manufacturing, one in which we simply deem putting carcinogens into the environment and the stream of commerce "too expensive". I found her arguments and her logic not only compelling but inspiring. I highly recommend this book, especially to anyone who is him or herself dealing with cancer.

A great book that helps us understand the ties between cancer and factors such as exposures to harmful synthetic and hazordous chemicals in our environment. Living Downstream helps us understand the difficulty in "proving" scientifically which chemicals are causing cancer due to our exposures to so many chemicals and other factors (age, where we live etc.)

This book is a fascinating blend of a personal story (nonfiction) tied in with scientific data on cancer and the environment-told in a way that makes it hard to put down. The organization of the book is spectacular, it is simply amazing how well she winds her tale to be ever interesting, ever informative, and the revelations inside are simply mind-boggling. A must read (as is HAVING FAITH, her second book, which is just as fabulous). I just finished this last week, passed it on to a close friend, and am ordering a second copy because I don't want to be without one. This is something everyone should have at their fingertips-knowledge is power, and I have never experienced this much wisdom and factual evidence neatly wrapped and presented in such a way that it is hard to put down, and reads more like fiction than non. I wish it was, due to the grim nature of many of the truths it presents, but the author manages to write it without a depressing tone, but rather one of determination to look toward a better future. 5 Stars, I wish I could give it more.

I have recommended this book to many friends of sustainability and even to a few who have contracted cancer. It is difficult to absorb the danger of her messages, thus I read just a bit at a time. Having said that, I feel everyone who is concerned about the environment should read and discuss this book. It is factual, mesmorizing, and sad.
Jo Bailey
Amazon Devotee

The author, a PhD Biologist, writes her compelling personal story about being a cancer survivor and weaves into it many interesting factual stories about the connection to the environment that we all share. A very important book that everyone should read. There is also a documentary of the same name coming out. The author also has a web site: (...)

If we are to not only cure cancer BUT also someday PREVENT cancer, then we all need to read this book & make ourselves aware of our surroundings.