Brain Cancer Books

Death Be Not Proud (P.S.)

John J. Gunther

Amazon Price: $11.16 List Price: $13.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Harper Perennial Modern Classics Amazon Marketplace: 46 new & used starting at $4.96

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 120 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Less Impressive Than I Had Expected 3 out of 5 stars.
7 of 10 people found this review helpful.

A journalist and occasional novelist, John J. Gunther (1901-1970)was best known for the series of geo-political books he wrote during the 1930s and 1940s; today, however, he is best recalled for DEATH BE NOT PROUD. Published in 1949 and subtitled "A Memoir," it is a short work describing the final months of son Johnny Gunther, who died of a cancerous brain tumor in the late 1940s. Over the years many people have recommended this book to me, describing it as poetic in style, deeply touching in story, philosophical in content. Having at last read the work, I find the descriptions of it largely inaccurate and myself sharply unimpressed.

To hear his father tell it, Johnny Gunther was an entity without flaw, a seventeen year old who was charming in his shyness, brilliant beyond his years, corresponding with Einstein even as he bemoaned his lack of skill at sports, the perfect child, a paragon beyond paragons who endured great suffering with a smile. While I can easily accept the brilliance and integrity and strength of character--such people do exist--the portrait quickly becomes cloying; Gunther elevates Johnny to the level of plaster saint and it is tiresome in the extreme.

Gunther's prose is not in the least poetic; it is in fact the workman-like writing of the journalist he was. As for philosophical tone, this seems to consist of asking the time-honored questions about life and death and little more. In the end, DEATH BE NOT PROUD is the emotional purging of a grief-stricken parent who considers his loss to be unique instead of universal and therefore lacks the scope that one would really wish of this sort of memoir. Recommended, but primarily for the details it offers of the way in which cancer patients were treated in this era.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Editorial Review:

Johnny Gunther was only seventeen years old when he died of a brain tumor. During the months of his illness, everyone near him was unforgettably impressed by his level-headed courage, his wit and quiet friendliness, and, above all, his unfaltering patience through times of despair. This deeply moving book is a father's memoir of a brave, intelligent, and spirited boy.

EEG on DVD - Adult: An Interactive Reading Session

Richard P., M.D. Brenner

Amazon Price: $89.10 List Price: $99.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Demos Medical Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 19 new & used starting at $89.09

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Subjects -> Medicine -> Physician & Patient -> Diagnosis

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Here is the first fully interactive tool that simulates an actual EEG lab reading session. EEG on DVD: Adult - An Interactive Reading Session teaches EEG interpretation to neurology residents, clinical neurophysiology fellows, and neurologists, using 200 EEG cases, over 400 EEGs, and a self-testing section.

A wide variety of adult EEGs are presented, covering diseases such as epilepsy, brain tumors, encephalopathies, stroke, degenerative disorders, comatose states, etc. Teaching points in the cases are emphasized, making this the perfect tool for clinical self-assessment and board preparation.

Features unique to this DVD include:

Interactivity: This DVD is easy and simple to use, while providing comprehensive topic coverage

Adaptability: Many EEG cases can be viewed in different montages

Versatility: Users can view cases randomly, in similar topic groupings, or grouped by a specific EEG pattern or clinical entity

Cases can be presented as questions, in random sequence, simulating an EEG reading session

Practice quiz, with answers and references

All information can be accessed in either audio or text mode

This activity has been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit

EEG on DVD: Adult - An Interactive Reading Session is the only publication that simulates real-life laboratory conditions, while providing questions and answers, self-assessment tools, detailed discussions, and the latest references.

The American Clinical Neurophysiology Society designates this educational activity for a maximum of 8 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits . Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Damn The Statistics, I Have a Life to Live!: Coping with a Brain Tumor My Personal Story

H. Charles Wolf

Amazon Price: $10.30 List Price: $11.45 Usually ships in 24 hours By: 1st Books Library Amazon Marketplace: 24 new & used starting at $1.36

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Worth reading if you know someone with a brain tumor. 5 out of 5 stars.
25 of 26 people found this review helpful.

I read this book when my mother was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme IV. It was very quick and easy reading, which is good during a time like this. It tells what this guy experienced from the beginning symptoms, through surgery, and recovery. It helped to reaffirm that what the doctors were doing for my mom was the "standard" procedure for this type of cancer, and helped to familiarize me with the terminology that I was both hearing from the doctors as well as reading simultaneously in this book. Although people experience different symptoms from this cancer, much of it is the same. Because this guy was able to write about what he experienced, it helped me to understand more of what my mom was going through... with the loss of words and thoughts, inability to do simple everyday activities that we take for granted, the craniotomy, and treatments - radiation and chemo. I would recommend this book to anyone who is caring for someone with this tumor.. It's affordable, quick reading, and it will help give you more insight on what the patient is going through.
I would like to say that my mom has undergone 2 craniotomies, she is walking again, becoming easier to understand, and has the best attitude towards life. She's got too much to live for to let this little thing called "cancer" get in her way. :-)

A Journey Round My Skull (New York Review Books Classics)

Frigyes Karinthy

Amazon Price: $12.21 List Price: $17.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: NYRB Classics Amazon Marketplace: 34 new & used starting at $6.79

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The distinguished Hungarian author Frigyes Karinthy was sitting in a Budapest café, wondering whether to write a long-planned monograph on modern man or a new play, when he was disturbed by the roaring—so loud as to drown out all other noises—of a passing train. Soon it was gone, only to be succeeded by another. And another. Strange, Karinthy thought, it had been years since Budapest had streetcars. Only then did he realize he was suffering from an auditory hallucination of extraordinary intensity.

What in fact Karinthy was suffering from was a brain tumor, not cancerous but hardly benign, though it was only much later—after spells of giddiness, fainting fits, friends remarking that his handwriting had altered, and books going blank before his eyes—that he consulted a doctor and embarked on a series of examinations that would lead to brain surgery. Karinthy’s description of his descent into illness and his observations of his symptoms, thoughts, and feelings, as well as of his friends’ and doctors’ varied responses to his predicament, are exact and engrossing and entirely free of self-pity. A Journey Round My Skull is not only an extraordinary piece of medical testimony, but a powerful work of literature—one that dances brilliantly on the edge of extinction.

Curveball: When Life Throws You a Brain Tumor

Liz Holzemer

Amazon Price: $10.85 List Price: $15.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Ghost Road Press Amazon Marketplace: 21 new & used starting at $8.39

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

True picture 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Having just undergone my second brain surgery, I can attest to the fact that this book will prepare anyone who is going to undergo this type of surgery, and would be especially helpful to a family member who wants to understand what their loved one will be experiencing. Liz masterfully interweaves the unvarnished facts with humour, making it delightful read. I would loved to have had such a book to read prior to my surgeries!

Editorial Review:

Life seemed idyllic for thirty-two-year-old Liz Holzemer. Wife of Major League Baseball pitcher Mark Holzemer, Liz was enjoying a successful career as a journalist when an MRI revealed a baseball-size brain tumor she soon found out was called meningioma. Told with clarity and unwavering humor, this book is an inspirational and informative account of one woman's battle for her life. It shows how she emerged from this frightening diagnosis and two brain surgeries retaining her remarkable spirit of survival and renewed sense of purpose and hope. With practical information about meningioma and brain surgery, Curveball is a manual for people who face life-altering challenges and is also proof that one need not fight such battles alone.

I Had Brain Surgery, What's Your Excuse?

Suzy Becker

Amazon Price: $14.96 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Workman Publishing Company Amazon Marketplace: 47 new & used starting at $0.13

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 31 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

For years Suzy Becker, author of The New York Times bestseller All I Need to Know I Learned from My Cat, literally lived by her wits--her imagination, intelligence, ideas, passion. During much of that time she was also suffering seizures. But they came secretly in the middle of the night, and were probably stress-related, or so one doctor said. Then a seizure (and a second opinion) led to a round of specialists, Cat scans, MRIs, and-Suzy's worst fears come true--brain surgery.

An inspiring memoir, I Had Brain Surgery, What's Your Excuse? is a story of identity told with wise, surprising humor. It takes readers on a journey that's both metaphysical and whimsical; one that is by turns rivetingly dramatic and unexpectedly light. Illustrated with drawings, charts, newspaper clippings, silly graphs, and real EEGs and MRIs, I Had Brain Surgery . . . turns one artist's story into a universal book about creativity, family, healing, love, commitment, and that intangible something that gives each of us our spark.

Living with a Brain Tumor: Dr. Peter Black's Guide to Taking Control of Your Treatment

Peter Black

Amazon Price: $11.56 List Price: $17.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Holt Paperbacks Amazon Marketplace: 26 new & used starting at $1.00

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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Disorders & Diseases -> Cancer -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Each year, 100,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with a brain tumor. With his new book, Dr. Peter Black fills a gap in the lay readership, providing an accessible medical resource for adult patients and their families. Dr. Black, who has operated on more than 3,000 patients with brain tumors, is uniquely qualified to discuss both clinical treatment of and research into brain tumors.
This invaluable resource tells patients everything they need to know to understand and address their diagnosis, in a four-part structure:

• “What is a Brain Tumor?" provides straightforward information about how brain tumors are diagnosed, the different types of tumors and how they develop, and where to go for treatment.

• “Coping with Shock” addresses the emotional impact of the diagnosis on the patient and their family, offering specific advice on support groups and how to managing work and finances during your treatment.

• “Treatment options" outlines the complex array of available treatments in a sequential, logical, and thorough manner, enabling readers to make informed decisions.

• “Recovery" describes how to deal with the aftermath, addressing issues ranging from physical scars to speech and occupational therapy.

Dr. Black believes that more than half of brain tumor cases can be resolved with relatively minor side effects or none at all. Equipped with this informative book, patients and their family and friends can learn how to fight brain tumors effectively, putting them on the path to wellness.

Brain Tumors: Leaving the Garden of Eden--A Survival Guide to Diagnosis, Learning the Basics, Getting Organized, and Finding Your Medical Team

Paul M. Zeltzer

Amazon Price: $29.95 List Price: $29.95 In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served. By: Shilysca Press Amazon Marketplace: 8 new & used starting at $26.98

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A must-read for anyone dealing with a brain tumor 5 out of 5 stars.
17 of 17 people found this review helpful.

This book helps guide you through the turmoil that comes with the diagnosis of a brain tumor. Unlike most diseases where you go to your doctor and let him / her make all of the decisions, dealing with a brain tumor is very different. You will be dealing with up to 20 different types of health professionals. You will be given choices that your doctor doesn't even want to make for you. Decisions that you make can greatly affect your chances of being a long term survivor.
You need all of the help you can get.
This book was written by one of the best neuro-oncologists in the world, drawing not only on his professional experiences dealing with his own patients at some of the most prestigious brain tumor centers in the USA, but also on his many years of participating in online support groups and answering questions from my website, Clinical Trials And Noteworthy Treatments For Brain Tumors.



Al Musella, DPM
President
Musella Foundation For Brain Tumor Research & Information, Inc
Virtualtrials.com

Editorial Review:

A guidebook for the 150,000+ people/ year and families affected by brain tumors. This book will help you learn the basics about diagnosis, getting organized and finding your medical team. Included are chapters on all major types of brain tumors & metastases, glossary, medications, using the Internet to search for information, and getting a second opinion.

"Brain Tumors:Leaving the Garden of Eden" is all about improving your odds by gathering information, & assessing your situation: What you need to do; what you need to know; what you can do now!

Guerilla Guide to Brain Tumors: Shameless Dirty Tricks to beat the system and STAY ALIVE!

Skip Goebel

Amazon Price: $18.89 List Price: $20.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: AuthorHouse Amazon Marketplace: 14 new & used starting at $13.12

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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Disorders & Diseases -> Cancer -> Brain Cancer
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Disorders & Diseases -> Nervous System
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> General

Editorial Review:

In an unprecedented format, the Guerilla Guide to Brain Tumors is written in a format that combines the layout of the For Dummies series with a drill-sargent's attitude. (the back page says it all) This is a book of War Nothing warm and fuzzy or socially acceptable here and nothing about "Dying with Dignity". Just what it takes to win. And win you will, complete with a trail of wreckage behind you. It's a book for the patient, NOT the caregiver. The Guerilla Guide to Brain Tumors is a book that will take you out of the "Grovel and Wretch" mode and into the "Command and Dominate" mode with the following factions of our society: The Medical Establishment The Social Services Establishment Church, Friends and Family And most importantly.Yourself No punches are pulled here. Prepare to be shocked, experience uncontrollable bursts of laughter, learn gut-turning remedies, gain the motivation and grit to dump friends and family, intimidate social services employees, access top medical care using the most unethical tactics.and the list goes on. If you want to die in peace, read another book. If you want to live in pain this book not only shows you how to manage pain- but use it. Some people can take a punch while others would rather fold and die with a smile on their face, but then again- Dead people don't win wars. Only the living count

Never Change

Elizabeth Berg

List Price: $23.95 By: Atria Amazon Marketplace: 204 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 112 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Elizabeth Berg has a single great gift as a novelist. She creates heroines who are stuck and unhappy, yet deeply sympathetic. This may seem like an easy trick to pull off, but it's not. Think about it: usually when a character is mired in a problem--especially a problem stemming from her own reluctance to change, or fear of commitment, or lack of identity--the reader is ready within a few dozen pages to shout, "Pull yourself together!" and set the book aside. In contrast, Berg's characters seem like enjoyable challenges: problems with actual solutions.

In Never Change, Berg uses her gift to great advantage. Middle-aged Myra Lipinsky describes herself as "the one who sat on a folding chair out in the hall with a cigar box on my lap selling tickets to the prom, but never going." And despite a flourishing career as a visiting nurse, she feels as much an also-ran as ever. As the novel begins, in fact, high school seems to be rearing its ugly head again: Chip Reardon, the heartthrob of Myra's youth, has returned to town to live with his parents. Chip is dying from a brain tumor, and Myra becomes his nurse. Berg is not the kind of writer to lay bare the unsettling power dynamics of such a situation. Instead, Chip and Myra become friends and, well, learn how to love each other. It's a testament to the author's strong sense of character that we actually believe--and what's more, care about--Myra's emergence from her emotional cocoon. And the book is full of nice details, like this snapshot of children being read to at a library, "rising up on their knees to see the pictures, resting their hands unselfconsciously on those ahead of them so that they would not lose their balance." Such careful observations, recounted in Myra's voice, make us believe that she is a character worth knowing, and worth saving. --Claire Dederer