The Cancer Chronicles

A New York Times Notable Book of 2013

When the woman he loved was diagnosed with a metastatic cancer, George Johnson set out to learn everything he could about the disease and the people who spend their careers trying to understand and to fight it. What he discovered is a revolution under way—an explosion of new ideas about what cancer really is and where it comes from.

Deftly excavating and illuminating decades of investigation and analysis, rooted in every discipline from evolutionary biology to game theory and physics, Johnson explores what we know—and what we still don’t—about cancer, and why a cure remains such a slippery goal. Throughout his pursuit, Johnson clarifies the human experience of cancer with grace, bearing witness to the punishing gauntlet of consultations, surgeries, targeted therapies, and other treatments. Through Johnson’s radiant prose and authoritative perspective on science, he takes us on an adventure through the history and recent advances in cancer research that will challenge everything you thought you knew about the disease.