Review of 'The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
this book is apparently inaccurate
Kindle Edition, 393 pages
English language
Published June 2, 2010 by Picador.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (EBook, 2010, Picador)
- ISBN:
- 978-1-4000-5217-2
- ASIN:
- B003P2WJ6S
- Goodreads:
- 6493208
Copied ISBN!
3 stars
(4 reviews)
Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. Born a poor black tobacco farmer, her cancer cells – taken without her knowledge – became a multimillion-dollar industry and one of the most important tools in medicine. Yet Henrietta’s family did not learn of her ‘immortality’ until more than twenty years after her death, with devastating consequences . . .
Rebecca Skloot’s fascinating account is the story of the life, and afterlife, of one woman who changed the medical world forever. Balancing the beauty and drama of scientific discovery with dark questions about who owns the stuff our bodies are made of, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is an extraordinary journey in search of the soul and story of a real woman, whose cells live on today in all four corners of the world.
A great combination of personal story and history
5 stars
This is a really great book to listen to. It was narrated well.
The content was great - a very neat combination of personal stories and the very important history of medical science in the US and the racism of it. I highly recommend this book!
kerry reviewed The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Review of 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Of course it's heartbreaking that Henrietta Lacks's descendants must do without medical insurance while Henrietta's cells provide financial benefits to pharmaceutical companies. Rebecca Skloot concludes the book with a really good (if scholarly) analysis of the issues regarding tissue "donation" and medical research.
The story of the Lacks family was compelling; the historical record of the scientists and medical personnel was rather dry. In the end, I felt like there were too many competing storylines in this book to really make me feel involved with all of them.
kerry reviewed The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Review of 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Of course it's heartbreaking that Henrietta Lacks's descendants must do without medical insurance while Henrietta's cells provide financial benefits to pharmaceutical companies. Rebecca Skloot concludes the book with a really good (if scholarly) analysis of the issues regarding tissue "donation" and medical research.
The story of the Lacks family was compelling; the historical record of the scientists and medical personnel was rather dry. In the end, I felt like there were too many competing storylines in this book to really make me feel involved with all of them.
Subjects
- Cancer
- African American women
- Biography
- History
- Medicine