I Read What You Write

An estimated 1.2 million new cancer cases are diagnosed each year. Chances are someone you know has been touched by the disease in some way. Few words can destroy a life so completely.

29 Again by Mark Barkawitz is not your typical cancer memoir. Sure, it shows just devastating the disease can be to those who have it and to the ones around them, but this book is about the survival of the indomitable spirit. Interspersed with anecdotal stories about the author’s own cancer battle and shared stories about people he has known, are the occasional short stories filled with humor and hope. The title story is about a middle aged man who stumbles upon his college apartment building, having been moved from its previous location to make way for new condos. Exploring the empty rooms, he finds things pretty much as he left when moving out twenty years prior, including a layer of dust of course. He soon realizes that being there has some how made him younger again. Searching around the detritus of his former life he finds a ring lost by a former lover and is inspired to track her down on Facebook, only to find she is final stages of an un-treatable form of cancer. Can he use his new found fountain of youth to prolong her life until a treatment, or better yet a cure, can be found?

Charming, funny, witty, absolutely heartbreaking. From the thrill of beating cancer to the death of an old friend or a story of child who life is being cut short. This very real book offers the range of emotions. Ultimately you will be inspired.

Half the proceeds from the sale of this book are earmarked for donation to the City of Hope. A terrific stocking stuffer for the true survivors on your list.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for fair and honest review