A Series of Catastrophes and Miracles: A True Story of Love, Science, and Cancer

(Hardback)

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A wry, witty account of what it is like to face death -- and be restored to life. This inspiring memoir chronicles acclaimed Salon journalist Mary Elizabeth Williams' incredible victory over malignant melanoma. Personal, intimate, and exquisitely reported, her book illuminates the new science of immunotherapy, a breakthrough drug protocol just approved by the FDA that is slated to change the face of cancer research. A wry, witty account of what it is like to face death-and be restored to life. After being diagnosed in her early 40s with metastatic melanoma-a "rapidly fatal" form of cancer-journalist and mother of two Mary Elizabeth Williams finds herself in a race against the clock. She takes a once-in-a-lifetime chance and joins a clinical trial for immunotherapy, a revolutionary drug regimen that trains the body to vanquish malignant cells. Astonishingly, her cancer disappears entirely in just a few weeks. But at the same time, her best friend embarks on a cancer journey of her own-with very different results. Williams's experiences as a patient and a medical test subject reveal with stark honesty what it takes to weather disease, the extraordinary new developments that are rewriting the rules of science-and the healing power of human connection.

Reviews

This highly recommended account demonstrates the value of cutting-edge cancer research, but it is also beautifully crafted, and many readers will find it entertaining andthough the author might not like this terminspiring.Library Journal, starred review

Exhilarating and entertaining...Williams delivers a complex tale about a complex disease.Kirkus, starred review

[Williams] eloquently and generously shares her story and her emotions in this remarkably illuminating account.Booklist, starred review

Devastating and wise, clear-eyed and funny, A Series of Catastrophes & Miracles is a clich-busting tour guide through a country no one volunteers to visit (and how can you resist a cancer memoir that beings Spoiler: I Lived.) This is a book for all the survivorsof cancer, of marriage, of mothers, and of children; of all the trials and journeys that make us who we are.
Jennifer Weiner, #1 New York Times bestselling author of novels including Good In Bed, Best Friends Forever, and Who Do You Love

This astonishing and inspiring book reveals not only the experimental treatment that healed Mary Elizabeth Williams but also the deep reserves of grit, love, and humor that help people face lifes toughest tests. When you laugh and cry at the exact same time, you know you are reading an amazing survival story.
Piper Kerman, author the #1 New York Times Bestseller Orange Is The New Black: My Year in a Womens Prison

In writing a book not just about her own cancer but about the vexing history and science of cancer itself, Mary Elizabeth Williams has given us both a page-turning personal story and deeply informed look at a disease that fascinates even as it terrifies.
Meghan Daum, author of The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion

I so admire Mary Elizabeth Williamss gaze and candor, but perhaps most of all her humor, which keeps us great company in this touching book.
Jami Attenberg, author of Saint Mazie and The Middlesteins

This isnt simply a book about cancer. Its about the powerful connections that emerge in crisis, the discovery of our own carrying capacity for grief and compassion, and the marvel of resilience and stubborn mystery that is the human body. Mary Elizabeth Williams offers an important lesson in cutting-edge medicine, but also how to endure the worst days of your life while remaining tough, tender, and funny as hell.
Sarah Hepola, author of Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget

Mary Elizabeth Williams is an author youll want to seek out and befriend once youve finished her book. She bares so much of her soul on the pageher joys, her fears, her sufferingwe cant help but fall in love with her. This is as real as it gets.
Susannah Callahan, author of Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness

A Series of Catastrophes & Miracles shattered me. In the best possible way. One minute Id be bawling, the next unable to stop laughing. Mary Elizabeth Williams is the funniest, raunchiest, smartest, heart-fillediest, science geekiest, and most genuine guide not only into the sh*t-out-of-luck cancer netherworld -- but also into the unvarnished reality of marriage, motherhood, and family. Id call her a warrior, but shed hate me for that. So Ill simply say this: f*ck cancer and buy this book.
Deborah Copaken Kogen, bestelling author of The Red Book and Shutterbabe


Mary Elizabeth Williams understands what it means to straddle life and death and the story she brings back is harrowing, hilarious, enlightening, and, above all, touched with the kind of grace the comes from having stared mortality right in the eye.
Gayle Forman, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling novel If I Stay

Author Bio

MARY ELIZABETH WILLIAMS is a senior staff writer for award-winning Salon.com, and has appeared in the New York Times and numerous other national and regional publications. The author of Gimme Shelter- Ugly Houses, Cruddy Neighborhoods, Fast Talking Brokers, and Toxic Mortgages- My Three Years Searching for the American Dream, she lives in New York City with her family.