Letters from the Land of Cancer

Starred review from December 14, 2009
The prospect of hanging concentrates the mind wonderfully, wrote essayist Samuel Johnson. In the case of prolific writer and teacher Wangerin (Saint Julian
), a diagnosis of lung cancer drove him not to despair but to writing, his usual mode of making sense of things. He tells his family it’s an adventure; cancer is his wrestling with God and the big questions, as mortality gets right up in his face. A series of 22 letters—addressed mostly to friends to convey news of his progress—and seven meditations recapitulate the long, pain-filled journey through chemotherapy and radiation treatment so strong it eventually, literally, takes his breath away, diminishing tumors and lung capacity. Wangerin’s detailing is concrete, from the joy of touching his grandchild’s finger to the who-knew? myriad changes wrought by mortal illness. Faith may be his armor, but he is no noble knight, revealing peevishness, arrogance, self-absorption. No one speaks from the other side, but Wangerin, his cancer now sleeping, has gone before us with fierce honesty, peering over the edge and reporting.

January 21, 2010
Minister Wangerin (The Book of God and Paul) takes on the difficult task of composing his swan song in this elegant, spare, epistolary gem emanating spirituality and inspiration. Having been diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer, a notoriously virulent disease, Wangerin here grapples with the process of dying and of preparing to die, providing personal glimpses into his fear and suffering. A superb memoir to be savored by readers admiring the finely crafted prose of Annie Dillard.-Lynne C. Maxwell, Villanova Univ. Sch. of Law Lib., PA

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2010
National Book Awardwinning novelist and inspirational writer Wangerin makes sense of his world by and through his writing. Thus it makes perfect sense for him to begin writing about the experience of having incurable cancer within a month of diagnosis. It is also perfectly logical for him to continue to share his ideas, his fears, his sources of strength, and his reality with others via the written word. Lucky are his readers. Admittedly, the topic of a dying man with no hope of long-term survival can be unpleasant, but Wangerins perspectives are awe-inspiring, perhaps even unique. His considerations, in particular his take on popular cultures characterization of dealing with cancer as a battle, are the products of a man close to himself in body, mind, and spirit. With doctor visits, hospital stays, tests, medications, and therapies congesting his life, there also has been plenty of time for contemplation, time that he has infused with great, inspired wisdom. QY: Add Jr. to authors name in bib data?(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)