Lawrence Ingrassia delivers an unforgettable narrative in this both fascinating and devastating book. He is in such a unique position as to be part of this family that is affected by the "cancer gene" and also be an amazing writer. My ears were glued to this audiobook, and I could not stop listening. This book is part memoir, part medical documentary.

The author weaves together his personal family tragic story, and those of others with the "cancer gene" in order to explain the scientific discoveries behind Li-Fraumeni Syndrome, as well as personal stories of how people are actually affected. I am thoroughly interested in cancer, its development, its causes and its treatments and so I found this book to be utterly riveting. It is a bit heavy-handed in the science aspect and so if you don't have a scientific bent you might find parts dry, however Mr. Ingrassia's writing style is so accessible I would not consider this a huge issue. He really does an excellent job of laying out a narrative with both personal, medical and scientific touches.

The book is so well researched, but also the personal stories are so well delivered, and honest. I found this book to be both brutal and informative. I can tell that Mr. Ingrassia put his heart and soul into this book and it was a very touching yet important read. My heart breaks for these families and I hope that this book sheds some light on this subject and helps to bring awareness to this area of cancer research. This is one of the books that will stick with me for a long time, if not forever.

Enjoyed this book by Lawrence Ingrassia about familial inheritance and cancer that devastated this family and all their descendants. I work in the field of genetics/genomics and this family's story is a testament to why early detection of cancer is so crucial. With new and improved personalized therapies becoming available it is that much more important that families get checked regularly, especially when cancer. mutations are genetically passed down.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book.

Lawrence Ingrassia's recent release is truly incredible. I was invested in every moment of this audiobook and I feel like I'm coming away from it so much more aware and informed.

Cancer has been a part of my family's story for generations, however, not to the extent of the families mentioned here in this text. Our history with it has been more "normal," although equally inevitable. My heart HURT for the Ingrassia family and the losses they endured year after year. The part that hit me the hardest was where Lawrence shared about his nephew, Charlie.

I had never heard of Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS) until I came across this memoir. The research that Ingrassia put into telling the WHOLE story of the affliction and including more than just his family's testimony shows his passion for educating others. I loved it! However, some parts of this were hard to get through--all I can do is pray that this is not something that I will never have to deal with, but even so, I hope that the light this brings to the subject will help promote further cancer research, and hopefully one day, we'll find a way to survive it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC!

A Fatal Inheritance by Lawrence Ingrassia is one of the saddest, yet hopeful books that I have ever read.

In the late 1960's, Dr. Frederick Pei Li and Dr. Joseph Fraumeni began following the cases of a young father with leukemia and his 10 month old son, who and an unusual cancer in the soft tissue of his arm. They became interested in cases where seemingly unrelated cancers seem to run in families.

In the meantime, Lawrence Ingrassia lost his mother, both his sisters, his brother and a nephew to cancer. In time, his family began to participate in the studies of Dr. Li and Dr. Fraumeni. These doctors have done remarkable work in the fields of gene sequencing, and CRISPR gene editing. Hopefully, the studies will bring new treatment options for families like the Ingrassias.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received a free digital audio copy of this book from Net Galley.
#LeonardIngrassi#AFatalInheritance#NetGalley

I will always enjoy taking in non fiction via audio. This book accompanied me on many trips to the grocery store and hours cleaning my sweet home.

Lawrence Ingrassia is not only a journalist, but a subject matter in his book. He comes from a family that has been greatly impacted by cancer and through telling his family's story he is able to share how cancer research slowly came about to find that there is some hereditary nature and some testing for genes to predict if a patient is more prone to developing cancer then others.

There were so many moments when I was reading this book that I kept remembering that this research was happening during my lifetime and I was so disappointed at the many lives that were affected by the slow progress of research. AND those many people that didn't know about the preventative tests that could have given them information where they could have made different decisions with their lives. When we are in a time where information is swirling 24/7 at the highest speed, to know that there is medical information not getting into the hands that need it, was sad to read about.

After finishing this book, it made me want to look and find more non fiction medical books to dive into.

I read the audiobook version of this one and the narrator was great. He shared the story with feeling and compassion in providing very difficult stories of these families who have been so gravely impacted by cancer.

this was very hard to read but also very well reserached and written, and appreciate the author's balance of personal connection story, history and science

A Fatal Inheritance by Lawrence Ingrassia

This audiobook is both a medical non-fiction and a memoir that explores both cancer and genetics, using the author’s family as a specific case study. The book is interesting, but dry at times, especially as it goes into the more medical/scientific study of genes. Some parts were repetitive and it became easy to zone out a bit, something that I am prone to with audiobooks. The narrator was great, the writing was well done, and the audiobook was well-produced, but at times it felt a bit like listening to a textbook rather than a story. Overall it was a bit bogged down by the complicated genetics and intense scientific background, am would perhaps be a bit easier to focus on and retain information in a written form rather than an audiobook. While it is definitely an interesting and informative book, I was expecting something more like some of the books it has been compared to, like The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks or Hidden Valley Road, but it was not really a story so much as a case study.

Part memoir, part medical research, A Fatal Inheritance explores family cancer clusters and the genetic studies that reveal specific mutations making some people more prone to cancer. A particularly interesting subject matter for me as a childhood leukemia & lymphoma survivor, Lawrence Ingrassia writes a masterful pieces that balances scientific research with the very real experiences his family, and other families, have experienced. I particularly liked the narrator, Roger Wayne, because he gave a very human voice to a very heavy subject. This isn't a light read, and Roger Wayne handled it very well.

Thank you MacMillan Audio for the gifted ALC.

A Fatal Inheritance by Lawrence Ingrassia Published on May 14, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This story tells of the progression of a specific type of cancer. The author delves into his family's history to understand how this cancer is passed from certain members of his family to future generations. His research is thorough and explains how scientific research evolved over time.
The science lover in me enjoyed the exploration of hypotheses and conclusions of studies as well as how they were linked. My enthusiasm and enjoyment of getting to know people's personal stories wasn't quite satisfied. Although this was an interesting book with many fascinating systematic research facts, it was slow in parts and I expected a vantage point of how this disease affected these family members personally. There was an occasional mention of how difficult deaths were to some relatives but a deeper, more intimate understanding was lacking.
If you prefer a more scientific and factual book, you will enjoy this work.

WOW! I am not in the habit of rating memoirs because of their personal nature but this was a truly well-done book. Delving into the timeline of cancer research and the weaving in of personal moments created a fascinating tale of medical development and the human experience. I learned quite a lot about the evolution of scientific understandings of genetics and was surprised at how recent breakthroughs in the field occurred. I highly recommend this book, especially in the audio version. I binge-listened!

Thank you to the author and publishers for access to this work!

4.25 stars

This book is not for the emotionally fragile. you really need to be in a good headspace to read/listen to this one. But if you are or when you are, its worth it. As someone who has had multiple family members have different types of cancer, this was really close to home.

A Fatal Inheritance by Lawrence Ingrassia is part memoir, part medical study. Ingrassia documents how cancer and genetics have been studied over the years and his own family’s battle with cancer.

Personally, I would have liked if there were more human aspects to the story. I wanted to hear more about his family and their struggles with cancer. I was thinking this book would be told similarly to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.

The book is very interesting but some parts are slow and repetitive. I did zone out a few times while listening to the audiobook. There were a lot of things that surprised me, such as how long it takes to make medical discoveries. Ultimately, I don’t think I am the target audience for this book but it was interesting.

Such a heartbreaking book. Truly a love letter to his family. This book needs to be read at all the medical meetings when they are deciding what to spend money on. Genetic testing. Insurance needs to read this book. We need a change in the health system to help prevent so many deaths due to medical issues.

Story and Content: A
Writing: A
Narration: A
Best Aspect: Very interesting personal stories and facts about cancer and genetics.
Worst Aspect: There is no way to have a book with this many terminal illnesses can be uplifting.
Recommend: Yes.

This book follows a family starting in the 1960's. The mother of this family dies of breast cancer. The only problem is it doesn't stop with her. Her 2 daughters and oldest son are also diagnosed years later. What they did not know, at the time, is the cause was in their DNA. Lawrence Ingrassia tells his family's story. It's a sad one. He's also telling the story of the discovery of the p38 gene and the role it plays in the prevention of cancer. In his family the p38 gene is defective. This causes cancer to be prominent in his family. He tells of the journey to find a cure not only for Li-Fraumeni syndrome, but for cancer itself. As a nurse, this book was fascinating. It's amazing to think about what we don't know yet and the discoveries to be made in the future. However, if you don't have an interest in science or medicine, this might not be the book for you. I will say Lawrence Ingrassia does put it in laymans terms. Cancer touches everyone's life at some point. It's a devastating illness. But a hopeful one. I'm hopeful one day there will be a cure and this book shows that it is possible.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lawrence Ingrassia and MacMillan audio for the opportunity to listen to this book.

⭐️4
Cancer pervades this author’s entire family but no one knows why.

We then get a deep dive into two doctor’s research that changes the age-old beliefs on what causes cancer.

This is both a heartbreaking story of loss, but also a beacon of hope in the realm of scientific discovery.

I took away a few main things: one, I was ignorant as to the complexity of cancer as a whole. Two, I felt more appreciation for the medical and scientific community for the work they do. Three, new ideas are constantly replacing old ones, so we should all strive to keep an open mind.

If you are interested in the field of science and/or cancer research that intertwines a personal story, this book is for you.

My opinions are my own. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Publication date: May 14, 2024
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6378442982

Beautifully done. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was perfect. This book has a great balance of personal stories and medical/technical so that it flowed well and held my interest throughout. I would love to read more by this author, he is a great storyteller. Highly recommend.

There are many reviews of this book that will be better than this one - if you are looking for a comprehensive break down of this magnificent book, those will be perfect for you [and I encourage you to seek them out]. THIS review is written, quite simply, from pure emotion.

My heart immediately broke for the author - I cannot even imagine losing almost all of my family over the years [starting with his Mom when he was 10 {I believe} ], and his story alone is devastating and heartbreaking.

THEN, he takes you down the rabbit hole of the discovery of genetic cancer [Li-Fraumeni Syndrome] and the endless [and often seemingly hopeless] work those men [Dr. Frederick Pei Li and Dr. Joseph Fraumeni Jr., whom the syndrome is named after] and ALL the amazing Dr.s that have come [and continue to come] since, in search of a cure [and a why].

We also meet the families afflicted with this syndrome [especially "Family A", who are essentially ground zero in this story], and on the emotions that flowed then. The amount of cancer and death amongst these families is unfathomable, and by the end of the book, you will be as dry as a desert from all the tears you have shed. And them you read the final chapter and just when you think you cannot cry one more year the ending will completely wreck you and you will never look at your family and those around you that you love the same way again.

I was privileged to receive an audiobook ARC and I am so glad I did - the narrator [now one of my favorites] did an excellent job and even his voice broke at times at the sorrow being played out in these pages. His own humanity added to the story and made it that much better.
I must also compliment the narrator's ability to whip off all the medical terms correctly, even in the emotional parts. Some of the tests [and research] and cancer names are tongue -twisting on a good day, and Mr. Wayne handled them with dexterity and perfection. Very well done.

#fightlikecharlie

Thank you to NetGalley, Lawrence Ingrassia, Roger Wayne - Narrator, Henry Holt & Company, and Macmillan Audio for providing the eBook and audiobook ARC's in exchange for an honest review.

Macmillan Audio ALC
Part memoir and part research, this book was absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking and informative. I applaud the author and his vulnerability and sharing his family struggle with cancer and how he and his family coped as the member slowly died one by one from different cancer diagnoses. The book is not for those that are dealing with cancer at the moment or recently because there is a lot of cancer death present in his story. I found the parts about cancer research to be extremely informative and really answered some of my questions that I occasionally had floating around about cancer. The research was well done it covered a lot of bases from beginning theories of what researchers used to think caused cancer to now what they’re trying to figure out, especially when it comes to mutations with the P53 gene, which is what caused all of the cancers present in the authors family. This is a book that will stick with me long-term. I found it to be eye-opening and so very important.

This is the story of families who lack the gene that causes the body to fight off cancer. It is also the story of the doctors and researchers who discovered this genetic mutation and now identify these families and try to develop ways to help them. The author is a journalist who is also a member of one of those unfortunate families. He writes movingly about his losses and the losses of other families like his. I was also very interested in the history of cancer research in the book. Thank goodnes for the people who are willing to go against what "everyone knows" and look for answers in unexpected places.
I listened to an audio version and the narrator was good. Much of this book was sad, but very touching. It ended with a message of hope for the future.