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Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.

One in two men and one in three women will develop invasive cancer. Tumors have the power to redefine identities and change how people live with one another.

Tumor takes readers on an intellectual adventure around the attitudes that shape how humans do scientific research, treat cancer, and talk about disease, treatment, and death. With poetic verve and acuity, Anna Leahy explores why and how tumors happen, how we think and talk about them, and how we try to rid ourselves of them.

Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.

160 pages, Paperback

Published September 7, 2017

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About the author

Anna Leahy

17 books37 followers
Anna Leahy is the author of the poetry books What Happened Was:, Aperture, and Constituents of Matter and the nonfiction book Tumor.

In addition to Tumor, which she wrote to make sense of cancer, Leahy co-wrote Conversing with Cancer to help patients, caregivers, providers, and communication specialists develop strategies to negotiate cancer care. She and Douglas R. Dechow wrote Generation Space: A Love Story. Anna Leahy is the editor and co-author of What We Talk About When We Talk about Creative Writing and Power and Identity in the Creative Writing Classroom.

She edits TAB: The Journal of Poetry & Poetics and teaches at Chapman University. Read Tab Journal at https://TabJournal.org.

See more about the author at https://amleahy.com.

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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
Profile Image for shams hoter |.
333 reviews92 followers
May 18, 2023
كتاب الأورام | آنا ليهي ..

يتناول الكتاب موضوع السرطان والأورام بشكل عام ، تتحدث الكاتبة من منطلق تجربتها الشخصية وأفراد أسرتها مع السرطان ، حيث أصيبت والدتها بسرطان البنكرياس وتوفت على إثره ، ووالدها بسرطان الكبد بعد أن تم الإشتباه بتعرضه للإشعاع عندما كان جنديًا وتوفى على إثره أيضًا ، وهي كانت على شفى الإصابة بسرطان الثدي ..

تقدم الكاتبة في هذا الكتاب :

أسباب الإصابة بالسرطان .
أنواع السرطان المختلفة ، من أبسط ورم حتى مراحلة النقيلية .
طرق تشخيصه ، بما في ذلك الفحوصات السريرية والتصويرية ، والتحاليل المخبرية .
العلاجات المختلفة ، وشرح ما يتضمنه كل نوع وتأثيراته الجانبية كالاستئصال والعلاج الكيميائي .
تأثير نمط الحياة على الإصابة بالسرطان كالتغذية والتدخين والتعرض للإشعاع والمواد الكيميائية الخطرة .
العامل النفسي والإجتماعي لمرضى السرطان وأسرهم ، وشرح كيفية التعامل مع القلق والتوتر الذي يصاحب العلاج .

كتاب صغير الحجم مفيد يعد مرجعًا مناسبًا سواء لمرضى السرطان أو ذويهم ، أو لأي شخص يريد الإطلاع وفهم السرطان وأساليب علاجه والوقاية منه ، لغة مبسطة وواضحة ، كما أنصح به للإستفادة .
Profile Image for Mahmoud Masoud.
380 reviews687 followers
June 8, 2023
في بداية الكتاب، تعرفنا الكاتبة على تجربتها الشخصية مع السرطان، حيث توفي والدها ووالدتها بسبب أنواع مختلفة من السرطان. ثم تشرح بشكل مبسط عن أنواع الأورام ونسب إصابة كل جنس منها.
Profile Image for Anna Leahy.
Author 17 books37 followers
Read
September 3, 2017
Tumor was both the most difficult and easiest (or perhaps most inevitable) book for me to write. I adore the Object Lessons series and am thrilled that my book is part of that exploration of the hidden life of ordinary things. Tumors are the most extraordinary ordinary things I could imagine, and talking about what they mean pushed my thinking in new directions. I hope it does the same for readers.
Profile Image for emily.
618 reviews532 followers
September 17, 2025
'Our human incandescence has a life span, and our demise emerges from life itself. Tumours are the stuff of life, perhaps not inevitable for the individual, but unavoidable for the whole of us as living creatures.'

Actually fantastic, this. Written by a poet, my fault for expecting any less.
Profile Image for Guy Choate.
Author 2 books25 followers
February 24, 2019
When my grandfather died of lung cancer, it happened so quickly—and he smoked—so I didn’t have much use to learn about the intricacies of tumors and its treatments. Cancer is so prevalent that it never really felt worth researching until I was in my mid-30s and my dad developed brain cancer. I scoured the Internet for information, but the content itself was even more technical than the presentation of it. My lack of understanding added to the feelings of helplessness I already felt, so I gave up my search for knowledge long before I was satisfied, before my father died. Reading this book—even two years after my father’s death—helped me find some of the satisfaction I had initially sought. Leahy did the research, she put it in context, and she made it palatable. She injected it with empathy. She wrote something that exists in that oft-elusive intersection of art and science.
Profile Image for Marian.
396 reviews51 followers
February 24, 2018
Lucid and beautiful consideration of what is means at the physical level to be human and to be whole; of, as the author (and Audre Lorde) put it, the idea that "dying is a life process" and "death is a life process." As well as a personal exploration of cultural and medical-scientific perspectives on cancer diagnosis, language, treatment, and research.
Profile Image for ريم السيد.
14 reviews4 followers
January 16, 2023
"قلَّما يفكر أحد في ماهية الورم أو معناه قبل أن يعرف شخصًا أُصيب به أو يُصاب هو نفسه به. كثيرون من بيننا سيُضطرون فقط حينئذ إلى معرفة معنى الورم ومعنى أن يُصاب المرء به"
للوهلة الأولى كنت اعتقد أن الكاتبة طبيبة أو مشتغلة بالبحث العلمي لاتفاجأ أنها لاصلة بينها وبين السرطان من الناحية العملية وإنما المعرفة المُلمة بالتاريخ العلمي للسرطان الذي تزخر به صفحات الكتاب نتاج سنوات من صراعات والديها مع السرطان. الكتاب وافٍ جدًا لأي مهتم بالمعرفة حول الأورام من داخل المجال الطبي أو خارجه. تناقش الكاتبة بعد تفصيل لتاريخ عائلتها مع السرطان ماهية الورم والفرق بين الورم الحميد والسرطان أو الورم الخبيث ثم توضح الدور الذي تلعبه الچينات في الإصابة به وما الذي يزيد احتمالات إصابة أشخاص دون غيرهم وتاريخ تطور الخيارات العلاجية له ثم تختمه بحقيقة أن الكتابة عن السرطان ليست كالإصابة به وأن عدم إحتمالية إصابتك به لاتجعلك بمنأى عنه في النهاية الخلية السرطانية كانت في يوم ما خلايا طبيعية.
Profile Image for Lisa.
Author 4 books46 followers
September 11, 2017
This is a fascinating read. There is so much truth and vitality in Leahy's voice and her knowledge of cancer is profound and beautiful. I couldn't put it down.
Profile Image for Josiah.
2 reviews
Read
January 4, 2020
Okay: A research-heavy look at cancer combined with a personal narrative that felt withholding and reserved.
Profile Image for Myza Amanullah.
39 reviews
June 11, 2022
Asli sebenernya buku ini bagus, memberi perspektif penyintas dengan bahasa yang mudah dipahami. Namun perspektif yang dipakai masih US centris (karena penulis dari US ya wajar) sehingga masih kurang relate dengan kondisi di Indo but cukup insightful dalam membahasakan tumor dan kanker dalam analogi dan sastra. Mungkin bakal coba baca buku ini lagi kalo udah mendalami apa-apa yang dimention di dalam buku ini
Profile Image for Ja'net.
Author 2 books5 followers
September 10, 2022
A year after a breast cancer diagnosis, I was still struggling to write about the experience, about my body--its limitations and possibilities, its transformation, and all the fear and grief that comes with the constant reminder of one's mortality. This book helped me find ways to approach this subject matter and, as an added bonus, fueled my obsession with etymology. I recommend it to anyone who has had a tumor or knows someone who has a tumor--so basically everyone.
Profile Image for Khallat Ali.
53 reviews4 followers
March 9, 2024
خبیث: كيف يتماهی السرطان معنا حتی يصبح نحن!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews

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