In this Book
- The Adventures of Cancer Bitch
- Book
- 2009
- Published by: University of Iowa Press
summary
Wisenberg may have lost a breast, but she retained her humor, outrage, and skepticism toward common wisdom and most institutions. While following the prescribed protocols at the place she called Fancy Hospital, Wisenberg is unsparing in her descriptions of the fumblings of new doctors, her own awkward announcement to her students, and the mounds of unrecyclable plastic left at a survivors’ walk. Combining the personal with the political, she shares her research on the money spent on pink ribbons instead of preventing pollution, and the disparity in medical care between the insured and the uninsured. When chemotherapy made her bald, she decorated her head with henna swirls in front and an antiwar protest in back. During treatment, she also recorded the dailiness of life in Chicago as she rode the L, taught while one-breasted, and attended High Holiday services and a Passover seder.
Wisenberg’s writing has been compared to a mix of Leon Wieseltier and Fran Lebowitz, and in this book, she has Wieseltier’s erudition and Lebowitz’s self-deprecating cleverness: “If anybody ever offers you the choice between suffering and depression, take the suffering. And I don't mean physical suffering. I mean emotional suffering. I am hereby endorsing psychic suffering over depression.”
From The Adventures of Cancer Bitch:
I found that when you invite people to a pre-mastectomy party, they show up. Even those with small children. The kids were so young that they didn't notice that most of the food had nipples. . . . I talked to everyone—about what I'm not sure. Probably about my surgery. Everyone told me how well I looked. I felt giddy. I was going to go under, but not yet; I was going to be cut, but not yet; I was going to be bald, but not yet. As my friend who had bladder cancer says: The thing about cancer is you feel great until they start treating you for it.
Wisenberg’s writing has been compared to a mix of Leon Wieseltier and Fran Lebowitz, and in this book, she has Wieseltier’s erudition and Lebowitz’s self-deprecating cleverness: “If anybody ever offers you the choice between suffering and depression, take the suffering. And I don't mean physical suffering. I mean emotional suffering. I am hereby endorsing psychic suffering over depression.”
From The Adventures of Cancer Bitch:
I found that when you invite people to a pre-mastectomy party, they show up. Even those with small children. The kids were so young that they didn't notice that most of the food had nipples. . . . I talked to everyone—about what I'm not sure. Probably about my surgery. Everyone told me how well I looked. I felt giddy. I was going to go under, but not yet; I was going to be cut, but not yet; I was going to be bald, but not yet. As my friend who had bladder cancer says: The thing about cancer is you feel great until they start treating you for it.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- ABOUT THE BITCH
- p. 1
- MORE JANUARY 16. HEMATOLOGY
- pp. 2-3
- JANUARY 27. TANK TOP
- pp. 4-5
- FEBRUARY 4. JEWS, DEATH, AND TAXES
- pp. 11-13
- FEBRUARY 7. TELLING
- pp. 15-17
- FEBRUARY 9. DOING WELL
- pp. 18-22
- FEBRUARY 11. ACTIVISM
- pp. 22-23
- MORE FEBRUARY 11. PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
- pp. 23-25
- FEBRUARY 12. CONFUSION SETS IN
- pp. 25-26
- FEBRUARY 15. PREPARE
- p. 26
- FEBRUARY 20. HEADING FOR LOSS
- pp. 30-31
- FEBRUARY 22. A NERVOUS LAUGHER
- pp. 31-34
- FEBRUARY 26. THE BAD GIRLS OF CANCER
- pp. 37-39
- FEBRUARY 28. STIFF UPPER LIP
- pp. 39-40
- MARCH 2. DRAIN BULBS
- pp. 40-42
- MARCH 3. THE ANGEL
- pp. 43-44
- MORE MARCH 3. THE BAD DAUGHTER
- pp. 44-45
- MARCH 5. TELLING II
- pp. 45-46
- MARCH 8. WHAT IS A MELTDOWN?
- pp. 47-48
- MARCH 13. HAPPY
- pp. 49-51
- MORE MARCH 13. HAIR
- pp. 51-52
- MARCH 15. HEART
- pp. 52-53
- MARCH 16. THE NEIGHBOR BOY
- pp. 53-55
- MARCH 17. FIRST HAIRCUT OF THE YEAR
- pp. 55-56
- MARCH 19. COVERING
- p. 56
- MARCH 26. CHEMO BEGINS . . .
- pp. 61-62
- MARCH 29. THE STORES
- p. 62
- MARCH 31. LISTENING
- pp. 62-63
- APRIL 1. TWO MILES
- pp. 63-64
- MORE APRIL 1. EL REPLIEGUE
- pp. 64-66
- APRIL 2. THE FIFTH QUESTION
- pp. 66-67
- APRIL 9. THE GOVERNMENT KNOWS MUCH
- pp. 72-73
- APRIL 17. MEN WITH GUNS
- pp. 75-76
- APRIL 24. FREEDOM AND DEVELOPMENT
- pp. 79-80
- MAY 14. PRAYER
- pp. 83-84
- MAY 16. CLOAK OF INVISIBILITY
- pp. 84-85
- MAY 21. THE EROTIC LIFE OF PROPERTY
- pp. 86-87
- MAY 23. THE BLESSING
- pp. 87-89
- MAY 27. POST-FUNERAL
- p. 89
- JUNE 2. LOUTS
- p. 90
- JUNE 7. MARKS
- pp. 90-91
- JUNE 10. LUMP
- pp. 91-92
- JUNE 13. GUILT
- pp. 92-93
- JUNE 19. THE TONGUE . . .
- pp. 93-95
- JULY 8. PAIN AND PAIN
- pp. 98-99
- JULY 9. SUFFERING
- pp. 99-100
- JULY 13. THE DANCER’S POSE
- pp. 100-101
- JULY 16. CHEMO DAY
- pp. 101-102
- JULY 23. THE MILLION-DOLLAR BRAZILIAN
- pp. 102-103
- JULY 25. BARRY-WATCH
- pp. 103-104
- JULY 30. I HATE FANCY HOSPITAL
- pp. 104-105
- AUGUST 1. QUAVER
- pp. 105-106
- AUGUST 7. THE NEVER-ENDING END
- pp. 106-107
- AUGUST 27. HAIR IS STILL MIA
- pp. 108-109
- AUGUST 28. NIGHT WITH BARRY
- pp. 109-111
- SEPTEMBER 8. SEPTEMBER SONG
- pp. 111-114
- SEPTEMBER 11. ROSH HASHANAH
- pp. 114-115
- SEPTEMBER 14. SINS
- pp. 115-116
- SEPTEMBER 17. HOMAGE TO OUR PODIATRIST
- pp. 117-118
- SEPTEMBER 21. BIKRAM KOL NIDRE
- pp. 118-120
- SEPTEMBER 22. FAST
- pp. 120-121
- SEPTEMBER 25. WHAT IS MINE
- pp. 121-123
- SEPTEMBER 29. HAIRLINE
- pp. 123-124
- OCTOBER 9. HYPER
- pp. 127-129
- OCTOBER 16. BUZZ CUT
- pp. 129-130
- OCTOBER 21. ALL HER LIFE
- p. 130
- NOVEMBER 26. LOSING DAYS AND YEARS
- pp. 130-131
- DECEMBER 1. IN MEDIAS RES
- pp. 131-132
- DECEMBER 2. TEACHING ONE-BREASTED
- pp. 132-133
- DECEMBER 3. LIBRARY CANCER CARD
- pp. 133-134
- DECEMBER 9. THE FEAR
- p. 134
- DECEMBER 19. THE PHANCY PHLEBOTOMIST
- pp. 134-135
- JANUARY 1. THE NEW YEAR
- p. 135
- JANUARY 15. WORRY AND NOT WORRY
- pp. 135-136
- JANUARY 24. ONE MASTECTOMY, TO GO
- pp. 137-139
- JANUARY 26. WHAT SCAR? . . .
- pp. 139-141
- JANUARY 28. THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE
- pp. 141-142
- FEBRUARY 8. ABOUT THE BITCHES
- pp. 142-143
- FEBRUARY 20. BLUT UND BODEN
- pp. 143-144
- MARCH 19. I WAS MARCHING
- pp. 145-147
- APRIL 7. THE ARCHIVISTS
- pp. 147-148
- APRIL 22. DEATH
- pp. 148-152
- NOTES AND UPDATES
- pp. 157-161
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- pp. 163-164
Additional Information
ISBN
9781587298523
Related ISBN(s)
9781587298028
MARC Record
OCLC
503298303
Pages
170
Launched on MUSE
2012-02-08
Language
English
Open Access
No
Copyright
2009