The Emperor of All Maladies is a fascinating and monumental walk through the "biography" of cancer, including a look at historical understandings of the disease; trends in the science of its treatment, prevention and marketing; and stories of the author's work with cancer patients in the modern context. Siddhartha Mukherjee's book covers centuries but feels like an effortless page-turner. His use of metaphors from literature interwoven with the stories of patients, oncologists and cancer scientists paints vivid pictures for the audience. Mukherjee does a good job bringing us into the world of cancer, including explaining all the scientific language that comes with it in a way that doesn't feel like a chore to learn.

In spite of the weighty subject matter the book ends up being inspiring rather than depressing. The immensity of the research Mukherjee did allowed him to draw some insights that are helpful for us moving forward in the continuing struggle to beat cancer.