Customer Reviews

Mapping Fate: A Memoir of Family, Risk, and Genetic Research

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
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Mapping Fate is a compelling memoir that successfully addresses the anguish, guilt, denial and mystery associated with terminal illness in a family, and the various ways that family members deal with it. Huntington's Disease is the subject of the book, but I think that people who have experienced devastating mental and physical illnesses in their own families will find many familiar and elegantly described emotions.

I found the personal reflections and the story about the effect of this illness on the family most gripping. The search for the gene and ultimately a treatment is covered as well, and is very interesting but a bit more detached.

Wexler has done an admirable job balancing introspective memoir writing with reporting on advances in scientific research.

This book provides an insider's account of the exciting scientific effort that resulted in isolation of the Huntington's Disease Gene. It is both exhilerating and sorrowful - encompassing the emotional experience of a family member watching the unfolding of a story with significant personal implications.

Wexler tells an incredible story of both the personal and medical aspects of HD. She takes the time to explain the important biological and genetic background, while not overwhelming you with useless facts. She does a wonderful job explaining the pain of having a family member with HD, while not soley focusing on their struggles. I learned a lot about HD through this book, and would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about the disease and its biological basis.

This book is just as other reviewers have said-- a heartbreaking but fascinating tale about two sisters' response when a devastating disease crops up in their family. But it's not a depressing, downer of a read. The two sisters deal with the future possibility of their own disease diagnosis in different ways but both have many lessons to teach all of us facing something difficult (and who doesn't at some point). And the story-within-a-story about the search for the Huntington's gene is a really candid and interesting look at the world of important scientific research. It's just a good read.

I felt Mapping Fate was a very informative and interesting book about Huntington's disease and genetic testing. I highly recommend it for anyone with Huntington's disease risk in their family. Also, very useful for anyone interested in genetics and genetic testing.

A must read for anyone interested in Huntington's disease. This book tells about how HD affects families and tells about how the gene was found after a ten year search. Courage and perserverance -that's the Wexler family-they give courage to so many others who are also on the same difficult journey with HD.

This book is so well written! Anyone who is dealing with this diease personally; or, has a friend or loved one. Who has been recently given this diagnosis. Needs to read, and share this book with others. Discussion about various chapters,will enable anyone to ease into a more personalized diaologue, with their loved ones, as well as being able to understand the diease themselves if they are dealing with the drain of this horrible diease. I would like to be able to afford a copy for many people. Who are wrapped in their ignorance! This book will open anyone's eyes to what a slow twisted dance this diease truly is.
Not to medical. Yet, not "preachy", but highly informative! Read well. Such as a good fiction novel; but, there was no denying that this was about real lives and learning how to adjust,deal with, and live. As best as one can do with the gradual loss of one's physical abliites,and the impact on one's mental health as well.

I checked this book out of the library when I was visiting with family. I just couldn't put it down! It tells the story of Huntington's Disease and the author's family's involvement in HD awareness and science. I was well into the book when I have to leave for home, so I went online and bought it. I really wanted to read the entire thing.

It is very wordy in places, and I had to continually refer back to previous pages because there were SO MANY NAMES of people, of organizations, etc.

But overall, I would recommend this to anyone interested in HD.

I have a friend who has HD in her family and she was going to read this book so I read it too to learn more about HD and how people deal with risk. It was an amazing book. Alice wrote her personal story in addition to providing the scientific info on HD and the gene. I loved the book. In fact, now I'm passing it on to my sister to read.

This is a mesmerizing and well-written book by a woman whose
family has a history of Huntingon's Disease. This disease is
deadly and kills in a slow and very tortuous manner. She be-
comes very involved in finding the genetic marker for this
disease.

How she views her family, her final decision not to take the
test to see if she carries the Huntington's gene, and the
emotional impact of carrying her fear is both poignant and
disturbing. She sure can write.