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4.0 

The Cancer Journals

By Audre Lorde & Tracy K. Smith
The Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde & Tracy K. Smith digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

Moving between journal entry, memoir, and exposition, Audre Lorde fuses the personal and political as she reflects on her experience coping with breast cancer and a radical mastectomy.

A Penguin Classic


First published over forty years ago, The Cancer Journals is a startling, powerful account of Audre Lorde's experience with breast cancer and mastectomy. Long before narratives explored the silences around illness and women's pain, Lorde questioned the rules of conformity for women's body images and supported the need to confront physical loss not hidden by prosthesis. Living as a "black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet," Lorde heals and re-envisions herself on her own terms and offers her voice, grief, resistance, and courage to those dealing with their own diagnosis. Poetic and profoundly feminist, Lorde's testament gives visibility and strength to women with cancer to define themselves, and to transform their silence into language and action.

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194 Reviews

4.0
“It is a gift that we - collective - were considered while navigating such a life altering journey. So many pieces I want to come back to and sit with; so many things that haven’t changed.”
“Given my current life situation, I've been wanting to better educate myself on cancer and the experiences of patients affected by it. Over the past few days, I've been listening to this during my daily walks, and I must say I was deeply moved by how Audre Lorde articulated the societal norms imposed on her in spite of her pain, just for the sake of morality. Her journal entries resonated with me on a personal level, for I, too, feel strongly about writing and the importance of the love we receive from others. It was a pleasant read, and I'll definitely revisit it soon—this time with a physical copy.”

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