This heartfelt tribute to his wife is also fascinating portrait of a cancer survivor. Alice Trillin died on September 11, 2001 from complications of her radiation cancer therapy -- 25 years after the therapy ended.

After reading this, you'll want to read more from Alice herself. If you have access to a good library, check out her New England Journal of Medicine article entitled "Of Dragons and Garden Peas: A Cancer Patient Talks to Doctors" in the March 19, 1981 issue. And if you own the Complete New Yorker on DVD, read her January 29, 2001 article "Betting Your Life." Both essays made me wish that she had written a full-length book on her cancer experience.