Rate this book

Let Me Get This Off My Chest: A Breast Cancer Survivor Over-Shares (2013)

by Margaret Lesh(Favorite Author)

4.34 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0615812511 (ISBN13: 9780615812519)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

StoryRhyme.com Publishing

review 1: Now I'm not big on non-fiction as a rule and REALLY not into excessive reality or depressing literature. But I thought it would be good for me to read this book, and I like the author's voice (having read and loved both of her currently available fiction novels). So I braced myself. Needlessly. By the end of the first page, I felt that I was sharing a terribly difficult life experience with a dear friend. My heart went out to her. I laughed, cried (and puked) with her. I had to force myself to slow down because I knew that once the book ended, it would mean good-bye. While this book contains humor and warmth and positive thinking, it doesn't shy away from the ugly hard truths and choices either. There are many snippets of practical information from a salve for radiation bl... moreisters to what not to say to someone who has breast cancer (and some excellent advice on words that will always be appreciated). I think pretty much everyone should have a copy of this book, because--tragically--odds are that someone you know will be slammed with this horrible disease and this book will help you be a better friend to them (even if that person is you). Thank you, Margaret Lesh, for using your strength, courage, and yes, vulnerability, to share your journey.
review 2: This book does memoir right. Perfectly paced and deliciously readable, Let Me Get This Off My Chest combines self-help, education, humor, and reflection. The book is so beautifully human--personal without being over done, funny without being distracting. Have you read memoirs or non-fiction where you skip chunks because the author trails off into filler? Gunk that makes the book longer but not better? There is no gunk here, except the gunk left behind by surgical tape, no filler except the saline in the post-mastectomy frankenboobs. The author chose to organize the book in a VERY useful, entertaining way and though you might *have to* finish the book in one sitting, if you do read a few pages and have to set it down, you'll be able to pick right back up as though you never left. That's a well-told story.The book's themes are very universally applicable. Anyone whose life has been touched by illness, injury, loss can relate to it without that exhausting feeling of being emotionally dragged back through the hard time. The book's tone balances a difficult subject with lovely precision--never overly painful, never like opening a wound--this was like having a cup of coffee with a friend whose been there. The author is both a thoughtful person and a skilled writer--those qualities are reflected in the various scenarios she shares--the wig party (LOVED THIS!!) is a scene I will remember for years to come; the loss of women in her life going through the same thing when their paths diverge. Support groups, spouses, work, money--all the good stuff is there but told in a way that hasn't been done to death and I don't think has been done this well until now.If you think reading a book about cancer will scare you or make you sad, don't be afraid. This book won't hurt, I promise, unless belly laughs cause you pain. But even then, it's worth it. less

Download links for: Let Me Get This Off My Chest: A Breast Cancer Survivor Over-Shares

Advertising