Janine O'Leary Cobb

Cancer: 101 Solutions to a Preventable Epidemic
Liz Armstrong, Guy Dauncey and Anne Wordsworth
Gabriola Is., B.C.: New Society Publishers 2007
316 pp.; index, glossary, footnotes

This book, co-written by two of the sparkplugs behind the Prevent Cancer Now conference (see the Fall 2007 BCAM Bulletin) has long been anticipated. It doesn’t disappoint. It’s a book that encourages ‘dipping into’. I suspect that few will read it through from beginning to end.
The authors set the stage with a lengthy (64-page) introduction, covering 32 topics, each one only two pages long. This introduction explains the authors’ good reasons for alarm: the incidence of cancer in children, adults, animals and fish, the ubiquitous carcinogenic chemicals that lurk in our air, water and food, and the lack of protection offered by big business, big pharma and big government.

The second part — which occupies the rest of the book — is devoted to solutions. These range from ten solutions for individuals to ten global solutions, with solutions suggested for parents, for cities, for labour, for business, etc. The solutions of most interest to our organization and its members are the ten solutions for activist groups. And this section provides much material for thought.
Written clearly and engagingly, dense with references to websites that promise additional information and substantiation, studded with quotations from well-known names wrestling with the problem of preventing cancer, this is a book that should shortly be in libraries across the country.
J.O’L.C.