I lied.

I said that Denis Johnson book would be my last leisurely read, but instead I picked up the No. 1 bestseller of non-fiction. I guess there is power in repetition, and like the Shadow of the Wind, I feel like I read a legitimate, wholesome story, but there was nothing more to it. Yea, never believe what Campbell readers pick up for their bookclubs paying with their Nordstrom credit cards.



So this is about the HeLa (hee-la) cell that is infamous in science for leading to vaccines for polio, cancer, and an endless line of other diseases. It is truly immortal, and this book not only explains the science behind the cell, but also confronts the ethics in medicine like patient's consent, property rights, legitimacy of making millions off of a living or dead being's tissue, etc. It also brings up some touchy, but pertinent American history i.e Tuskegee syphilis experiment, etc. I thought this was the most interesting, but all in all Rebecca Skloot isn't a very good writer and her white, upper class point-of-view is still that. I understand she tried to be journalistic and minimize the bias, but sometimes she just made the Lacks seem naive and thoroughly uneducated by focusing on their misunderstandings of the situation, quoting blatant fallacies and outlandish remarks. Honestly, I think that Rebecca Skloot just ran out of actual facts to write about, and all she had left was the Lacks family and her own autobiographical stance in journalistic endeavors trying to uncover this. She took the total bestseller path by cutting the scientific facts, making an emotional tie with those involved, being brief in all focuses (the science, the ethics, the history). I guess I'm being harsh, but I really felt like I was missing something... like substance. ?

Yea well I'm also procrastinating with school to write this meaningless review. It's still the No. 1 bestseller after all. How can I be wrong with thousands of dollars floating in for Miss Skloot. Wow that motivation drained quick.