Continuing our new regular feature of book recommendations from Uptown Borders' sales manager, Nick Taylor:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Elements of a black history with experimentation, a book of biology and a biography of the woman few have heard named elsewhere comprise the true story of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.
Primarily composed of three parts spanning from Henrietta's life, past her death, and reaching onward to her immortality, Skloot passionately follows the story of the young Southern, Virginian tobacco farm family through all the darkness that accompanies Henrietta's case of cervical cancer; from this emerges the first HeLa cells and subsequently critical details for creating the polio vaccine, fighting cancer, viruses, the effects of the atom bomb and all the questions regarding the "illegal, immoral, and deplorable."
Often, in reading a good book I find some personal level of resonance but few have compared with this week's selection. In the last three years I have read over 200 books, predominately non-fiction, and this pick easily found itself in the top 5.
If you once found yourself reliving a dark past, confounded by human ability to sacrifice in the name of scientific discovery, or winding along your own journey towards the truth behind a name then such will prove one of your connections to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Come to your Borders in Uptown at 4718 N Broadway and have your copy signed by author Rebecca Skloot today at 2:30.
- Nicholas Taylor, Sales Manager, Borders in Uptown
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