Skloot, Rebecca - The Immortal Life Of

Henrietta Lacks

The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks
EARLY PRAISE FOR
The IMMORTAL LIFE of HENRIETTA LACKS
“Skloot makes a remarkable debut with this multilayered story about ‘faith, science, journ-
alism, and grace.’”
—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred review)
“Heartbreaking and powerful, Rebecca Skloot’s sensitive account tells of the enduring,
deeply personal sacrifice of this African American woman and her family and, at long last, re-
stores a human face to the cell line that propelled 20th-century biomedicine. A stunning illus-
tration of how race, gender, and disease intersect to produce a unique form of social vulner-
ability, this is a poignant, necessary, and brilliant book.”
—ALONDRA NELSON, Columbia University; editor of Technicolor: Race, Technology and
Everyday Life
“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
takes the reader on a remarkable journey—compassionate, troubling, funny, smart, and ir-
resistible. Along the way, Rebecca Skloot will change the way you see medical science and
lead you to wonder who we should value more—the researcher or the research subject? Eth-
ically fascinating and completely engaging—I couldn’t recommend it more.”
—DEBORAH BLUM, author of The Poisoner’s Handbook
“This is a science biography like the world has never seen ... Ladies and gentlemen, meet
Henrietta Lacks. Chances are, at the level of your DNA, your inoculations, your physical
health and microscopic well-being, you’ve already been introduced.”
—MELISSA FAY GREENE, author of Praying for Sheetrock and There Is No Me Without
You
“Remarkable ... The portrayal of Lacks’s full life makes the story come alive with her hu-
manity and the palpable relationship between race, science, and exploitation.”
—PAULA J. GIDDINGS, author of Ida, a Sword Among Lions; Elizabeth A. Woodson 1922
Professor, Afro-American Studies, Smith College
“This book is extraordinary. As a writer and a human being, Skloot stands way, way out
there ahead of the pack.”
—MARY ROACH, author of Stiff and Bonk