The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer

Farber was a pathologist at Children’s Hospital in Boston who became interested in developing drugs to help children diagnosed with leukemia. He developed the first types of chemotherapies, including antifolates, and he administered them to children such as Robert Sandler (to whom Mukherjee has dedicated the book). Although Sandler entered remission but then died, his remission showed the promise of these new types of drugs.

Farber knew that he needed more funds to advance his research. He started the Jimmy Fund and raised money to build a larger institute for his work. The Boston Braves and later the Boston Red Sox became involved in helping the fund with Einar Gustafson (“Jimmy”), an 11-year-old boy, as its symbol. Farber later teamed up with socialist Mary Lasker to raise money for cancer.

Carla Reed is a recurring character in Mukherjee’s story. When the book opens, she is a 31-year-old kindergarten teacher in Ipswich, Massachusetts, who received a leukemia diagnosis. Mukherjee treats her at Massachusetts General Hospital, but her chemotherapeutic treatments push her to the brink of death. She loses her vitality and becomes zombie-like, shuffling through treatment. She enters remission, and Mukherjee watches as her force and vitality return. After she is cancer free for five years, Mukherjee visits her in her house and asks how she survived. She simply says that treatment became her life for as long as she needed it.