Daybreakers / L. L'Amour / 204 p.

Tye and Orrin Sackett, fast guns and close brothers, make up for transgressions out east by forging their way out West and bringing law and order with them. Written by the Danielle Steele of the western genre, Louis L’Amour doesn’t disappoint in his sixth installment of the Sackett saga.

L’Amour brings the reader right into the story--you feel the tension as an impending fast draw takes place, smell the gunsmoke, and (eventually) relax into the wonderfully described western big sky splendor. This is a fast read, and one that won’t disappoint. This is a great introduction to the genre too, if you’re unfamiliar.

Firecrackers: A Realistic Novel / C. Van Vechten / 186 p.

***Spoilers***

Fireworks is a story that wraps around the energy of a young gentleman by name of Gunnar O’Grady. Man of many trades (though the story seems to focus on his talents as an acrobat), he captures the attention of Paul Moody. Paul, his friends, family and associates are wrapped into the personality of Mr. O’Grady who changes them all--before ultimately extinguishing himself in an unusually abrupt downward spiral.

“You must think of a group of people in terms of a packet of firecrackers. You ignite the first...the flash fires the fuse of the second...after a series of crackling detonations...nothing survives but a few torn and scattered bits...”

If you’re looking to appreciate irony in literature, this book is a must read. This was an obscure title recommended to me by an avid Carl Van Vechten fan. The book was written around the same time as the Great Gatsy. The book will parallel Fitzgerald’s work as familiar to the era, but that’s where the similarities end. I believe there is a copy held at the depository. My copy was purchased on Google’s bookstore.

The Emperor of All Maladies / S. Muhkerjee / 592 p.

Siddartha Muhkerjee, Oncologist and Professor, needed to have a pet project to keep him sane during his residency. He chose to write a biography of cancer.

Written in a linear fashion, Muhkerjee takes us through the earliest discoveries and the earliest attempts to cure cancer to the present day. As we proceed through the timeline, the story takes frequent breaks to focus on a character or discovery or breakthrough before weaving back into the main plot. Sidney Farber and his folic acid antagonists on children diagnosed with ALL, Halsted and his compulsion to perform extreme mastectomies in hopes of ridding malignancies in breast cancer patients, Mary Lasker and her efforts to defeat cancer using her incredible fund-raising and political strengths--these characters allow their desire to emerge victorious to consume them, characteristic of the very malady itself.

I can appreciate how the author understands that I am not an Oncologist--drug combinations, surgery, even arcane dates in time are broken down into lay details and even repeated later on for benefit of the reader. These helpful explanations and clarifications do not take away from the momentum of the story. I found myself engaged as patients anxiously enrolled in experimental clinical trials in hopes of eventual remission, and I found myself cheerless when cancer fought back.

Muhkerjee has an exceptional talent for writing. This book is a treasure.