It all started when Gessen’s mother died from breast cancer. Breast cancer is one of the many inherited illnesses, which meant that Gessen herself might be carrying the same mutated gene that caused her mother to develop breast cancer, (The same gene was also connected to ovarian cancer). It also meant that Gessen could, potentially, pass that same mutated gene along to her children. Bravely, Gessen had herself tested, and learned that yes, she did have one of the two known mutated genes linked to a much higher risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer than women without the gene will ever face.

I, for one, would be too devastated by this news to do anything at all. Gessen, however, decided to write a book about her own, personal, quest to figure out what she should do. She was being treated at the hospital as a cancer patient, despite the fact that she was, at that moment, healthy, with no signs of cancer. Her doctors were indicating that the only way she could be certain that she would not develop cancer would be to have a double mastectomy and also a complete oophorectomy. In other words, remove everything that makes her female, and do it now, before the cancers start.

I found it interesting the methods she used to help her make her decisions. She considered her children’s needs (her daughter was still breast feeding at the time she got this news). Gessen did research on the gene she had. She questioned doctors. She spoke with families who also had a high prevalence of cancer, and asked more questions. She interviewed geneticists, women who had the operations she was considering, and even an economist. All had interesting, unexpected, and sometimes conflicting advice.

This all leads up to questions about genetics. In her book, Gessen focuses on specific groups of people who have been studied because of their higher than average potential for passing on inherited illness. First, she talks about the Ashkenazi Jews, (which she is one of). There are many inherited illnesses prevalent in this community, and Gessen does a masterful job of explaining not only what the diseases are, but also the genetics involved. Later in the book, she discusses the Amish, and the Mennonite groups, and the inherited illnesses found among each group.

Any discussion of genetics bring up questions, and Gessen talks about many in her book. There are the questions about ethics. Should embryos who show certain genetic conditions not be born? What conditions should we screen for, exactly? Should we consider only quality of life for the affected child, the burden the parents would face? It becomes tricky fast.

One cannot simply consider the genetic implications without considering the people involved, and the culture they are living in. Start talking about screening for certain genes, in the hopes of avoiding having those genes passed on to future generations, and you cannot help but remember Nazi Germany. The shadow of that evil still lingers over what is going in genetics today. What do we choose to test for, and why?

Another complication in dealing with humans is that not everyone is going to want to know what their genes hold. Some people, of course, will see family members dying of cancer and instantly run out and have themselves tested. Others, however, would rather not know for certain, for a variety of reasons. Gessen covers the psychology surrounding these decisions, and she pulls no punches. Gessen covers a culture that I found really interesting, who test everyone in their group, but, never let the people know specifically what their genes hold. This group uses matchmaking to disallow two people who are carriers of genetically inherited diseases from marrying and passing things on. The two people simply find another match, and no one in the group is stigmatized for holding a mutated gene. For them, it works.

Towards the end of the book, Gessen looks at studies that were done on foxes and rats. Scientists were breeding some specifically to be domesticated, and others specifically to be aggressive, and studying the differences found in the genes of each group. More questions arise. How much of our behaviors, our personalities, are directly a cause of our genes? Have we reached “the future”, where our identity is nothing more than what our genes hold?

I, for one, find genetics to be absoultely fascinating, and I could not put this book down. Gessen does a wonderful job of giving the reader real science without feeling the need to “dumb it down”. Those of you out there who find books about diseases and medicine interesting, (like me), will enjoy this book. I also think that readers who are struggling with their own decisions after being diagnosed with cancer will find value in Gessen’s journey, her writing, and her research. Genetic research and medicine is the future, and the future is now. Don’t miss out on this book.

Sellevision is the one and only, (well, so far, anyway), book written by Augusten Burroughs that is completely fictional. If I remember correctly, Burroughs describes Sellevision book as his “cheese popcorn book”. It’s yummy, and light, and probably not good for you at all, but it’s so much fun you just can’t put it down. Cheese popcorn is an appropriate description.

Sellevision is the name of a (fictional) home shopping channel, that has employed quite a few eccentric hosts to work for it. Take the movie “Soapdish”, mix it with the movie “Anchorman”, and add just a dash of the cattiness found in whatever tv show about teenagers in high school is the most popular at the moment, and you have Sellevision.

It starts out with Max, a Sellevision host who is being fired by executive producer Howard. Max accidently exposed himself on live Sellevision, (oops!), (on a “Toys for Tots” segment, no less), and now is out of a job. Max begins a degrading and difficult search for another job. Hilarity ensues. Howard, on the other hand, continues working at Sellevision, and having a torrid love affair with Leigh, one of the hosts, (who is not Howard’s wife). Leigh, of course, wants Howard to leave his wife, but is starting to question if he ever will.

Peggy Jean Smythe (who reminds me in some ways of Martha Stewart), is one of the most popular hosts, who one day recieves a disturbing email from a viewer. This begins Peggy’s decline into madness as she tries to figure out who is behind the emails, and why, and if the nasty things said about her in the emails are true.

She suspects Trish, the younger, newer, blonder host, is behind the emails, but there is no proof. I found it to be a lot of fun to watch a character so perfect, with the perfect husband and three perfect children go crazy and develop drug habits. What is really going on with the “perfect” husband and three “perfect” children is a whole other story. Trish, on the other hand, is, in fact, trying to climb the Sellevision ladder, and become the most popular host. So, could it be Trish behind the emails after all?

And then there is Bebe, the most popular host, who has been with Sellevision the longest. She shops from Sellevision, (and everywhere else), enough to make the reader wonder why she keeps buying so much crap she doesn’t need. The viewers love her, and her little stories about her dog which she tells while selling products. Bebe meets a wonderful man, who might be the worst possible choice she could ever make in a lover. Read and find out why.

Much of this story gives the reader a behind the scenes look at what it might be like to work for one of those home shopping networks as a host. Long hours, (sometimes in the middle of the night), spent selling products you know little or nothing about. Phone calls from random viewers, who give too much information about themselves, which you have to deal with live, “on the air”. Plus, all the stress of the social world this takes place in. It’s like high school, sped up, and recorded in little clips for the world to watch.

If you are looking for a fun beach read, check out this “cheese popcorn” book, and laugh as much as I did.

Here we have another collection of short story memoirs by Burroughs. The material in this book is all new, and not found in any of his other books, which never fails to astonish me. How many crazy things can one person have happen in their life, after all? Apparently there is no limit.

The cover of this book is an attention getter. Bright yellow background, the same shade of yellow that stands for “danger” or, if found in nature, indicates that the contents might be poisonous if eaten. There is a large hand on the cover, which I didn’t see anything wrong with until I was nearly done reading the book. The hand has six fingers, instead of the usual five. Some “possible side effect” has caused the owner of this hand to grow an extra middle finger. Of course, it’s that finger that was doubled. If you have read a lot of Burroughs’ work, you will find that quite fitting. It took me so long to discover the extra finger either because I’m dyslexic, (and somehow blurred the extra fingers into one finger), or possibly because my grandfather was born with six fingers on each hand. I never met my grandfather, but I wonder if some sort of “genetic memory” caused me to see the six fingered hand on the cover of Possible Side Effects as “normal”.

This book contains twenty six short memoirs. I found all of them fascinating in their own way. These stories do not follow chronological order, (as they seemed to in Magical Thinking), and instead, jump around in time. Some are stories from his childhood, some are from after he and his partner got together, a few are from somewhere in between, when he was still drinking. A few stories take place after he has become a recognized author. All stories are very different, and written with the honesty, sarcasm, and wit that only Burroughs can create.

I will mention just a few of the stories that I found so delightful and absurd that I had to share them with my husband. “The Sacred Cow” is about a puppy that Burroughs and his partner bought, to be a companion to their first dog. Bentley, the first dog, was a perfect puppy, who had recently taken an interest in a toy cow. One day, Burroughs sees this sweet, tiny, puppy in the window of a pet store, who happens to resemble a cow. He has spots, and drooping ears. Chaos ensues, but it does have a happy ending. Any story that includes a cute animal is going to get my attention.

“GWF Seeks Same” is a story about when Burroughs “helps” his friend, a lesbian woman who hates the word lesbian, place a personal ad. They end up with the biggest ad I have ever heard of, and that’s just where things start. This might be the funniest story in the book.

“The Forecast for Sommer” is a story from when Burroughs was a child. His mother starts dating a woman named Sommer, and the story is about both Burroughs’ prediction for how long that relationship will last, as well as for Sommer herself. This one is a heartbreaker. “Bloody Sunday” takes place in an airplane, where Burroughs has a nosebleed. Here we have some insight into what it’s like to be a “recognised” author, and having to deal with a messy, bodily situation in public. Very interesting, I thought.

If you are looking for more memoir work by Burroughs, you are in luck. Just this month, his new book, “A Wolf at The Table” has come out. From what I have seen, this one is about his father, and some secrets.

The term “Magical Thinking” is defined by Webster’s as: “Thinking involving assumptions that don’t hold up to rational scrutiny”. Read all about it here. You can find a better definition of “Magical Thinking” on one of the first pages of Burrough’s book. Burroughs uses the classic childhood example of “step on a crack and break your mother’s back”. No rational person really believes that stepping on a crack in the sidewalk will cause their mother to have back problems. But, little kids still avoid the cracks, and sometimes, this behavior continues on into adulthood. Magical thinking is hard to stop, especially when life gets rough, and you feel like you have no other form of control.

Magical Thinking is a collection of short story memoirs. All are little pieces of Burrough’s life, in somewhat chronological order. You won’t find any of these stories in either Running With Scissors or Dry. This is stuff readers haven’t come across before. There are twenty seven stories in all, giving the readers twenty seven little windows into Burrough’s life, and into his head.

My favorite little memoir in this book is called “Debby’s Requirements”. It’s about a horrible person named Debby, whom Burroughs had the misfortune of hiring as a housekeeper. Things escalate beyond what one would ever expect, and it has an absolutely perfect ending.

“Vanderbilt Genes” is about a visit to “The Breakers”, an estate owned by the Vanderbilt family. Burroughs goes there with his parents, and is convinced that he was kidnapped at birth, and really supposed to be part of the Vanderbilt family. I think all adults who came from horrible childhoods can relate to this one. I myself, for years, was convinced that I must have been adopted, or kidnapped, because I was nothing like either one of my parents.

“Ass Burger” is a story about Burrough’s brother, who, it turns out, has Asperger’s Syndrome. Of course, when they were children, no one knew what to call what his brother was. Asperger’s Syndrome is something that seems to be “in the news” a lot lately, as more and more people figure out that their odd, brilliant, loved one has this syndrome. My brother has it, and I found myself nodding my head at the similarities between my brother and Burrough’s brother. Fascinating story.

“Telemarketing Revenge” features Burrough’s acidic wit as he avenges himself against telemarketers, and their constant phone calls. I found it absolutely hysterical, and was amazed by his creative plan. “Key Worst” is dark and funny at the same time, as Burroughs describes the horrible people he is forced to share a glass bottom boat ride with in Key West, Florida. It’s one of those stories that makes you laugh, and then feel guilty for laughing. And, of course, there is a story called “Magical Thinking”, where Burroughs and his friend share some magical thinking experiences.

These are but a few of the little memoir stories contained in Magical Thinking. Some are darker or sadder than others. Some are funnier than others. All are a painfully honest peek into the head of Augusten Burroughs. If you have already read Running With Scissors and Dry, and want more, then this is your next read.