The price of experience : writings on living with cancer PDF
Preview The price of experience : writings on living with cancer
Diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, six years ago, Mike Marqusee was at frst reluctant to write about such a private condition. But he came to realize that writing provided a precious conti- nuity with his work before the disease. It also allowed him to address a variety of insidious platitudes that surround illness, often connected to the individualistic idea that the sufferer must be “brave”. And so Marqusee began to write about his symptoms and feelings, the responses of friends to the news that he was ill, and the way these refected broader attitudes. He described the political struggles occurring in the London hospital that continues to care for him, and the crisis in Britain’s National Health Service (NHS). Big Pharma, whose drugs keep Marqusee alive but which are sold to the NHS at extortionate prices, fell under particularly astringent scrutiny. The observations about cancer in these pages are never trite or sentimental. Rather they are acute, impassioned and political. And they convey important, shared truths, both personal and social, about an T H E P R I C E O F illness that will affect one in three people. E X P E R I E N C E M I K E M A R Q U S E E is an American-born writer, journalist and political activist who has lived in Britain since 1971. He is the author of W R I T I N G S numerous books including If I Am Not for Myself: Journey of an Anti- Zionist Jew, Wicked Messenger: Bob Dylan and the Sixties, Redemption Song: Muhammad Ali and the Spirit of the Sixties, Anyone but England: O N L I V I N G An Outsider Looks at English Cricket, a novel, Slow Turn, and a collection of poetry, Street Music. W I T H C A N C E R OR Books www.orbooks.com Cover design by Bathcat Ltd. M I K E M A R Q U S E E Cover photograph © Picsfve T H E P R I C E O F E X P E R I E N C E M I K E M A R Q U S E E Diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, six years ago, Mike Marqusee was at frst reluctant to write about such a private condition. But he came to realize that writing provided a precious conti- nuity with his work before the disease. It also allowed him to address a variety of insidious platitudes that surround illness, often connected to the individualistic idea that the sufferer must be “brave.” And so Marqusee began to write about his symptoms and feelings, the responses of friends to the news that he was ill, and the way these refected broader attitudes. He described the political struggles occurring in the London hospital that continues to care for him, and the crisis in Britain’s National Health Service (NHS). Big Pharma, whose drugs keep Marqusee alive but which are sold to the NHS at extortionate prices, fell under particularly astringent scrutiny. The observations about cancer in these pages are never trite or sentimental. Rather they are acute, impassioned, and political. And they convey important, shared truths, both personal and social, about T H E P R I C E O F an illness that will affect one in three people. E X P E R I E N C E M I K E M A R Q U S E E is an American-born writer, journalist, and political activist who has lived in Britain since 1971. He is the author of W R I T I N G S numerous books including If I Am Not for Myself: Journey of an Anti- Zionist Jew, Wicked Messenger: Bob Dylan and the Sixties, Redemption Song: Muhammad Ali and the Spirit of the Sixties, Anyone but England: O N L I V I N G An Outsider Looks at English Cricket, a novel, Slow Turn, and a collection of poetry, Street Music. W I T H C A N C E R OR Books www.orbooks.com Cover design by Bathcat Ltd. M I K E M A R Q U S E E Cover photograph © Picsfve T H E P R I C E O F E X P E R I E N C E M I K E M A R Q U S E E T H E P R I C E O F E X P E R I E N C E A L S O B Y M I K E M A R Q U S E E Anyone But England: An Outsider Looks at English Cricket War Minus the Shooting: A Journey through South Asia during Cricket’s World Cup Redemption Song: Muhammad Ali and the Spirit of the Sixties Wicked Messenger: Bob Dylan and the 1960s If I Am Not for Myself: Journey of an Anti-Zionist Jew Saved by a Wandering Mind (poems) Street Music (poems) For an archive of the author’s writings see www.mikemarqusee.com T H E P R I C E O F E X P E R I E N C E W R I T I N G S O N L I V I N G W I T H C A N C E R M I K E M A R Q U S E E OR Books New York • London © 2014 Mike Marqusee Published by OR Books, New York and London Visit our website at www.orbooks.com First printing 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except brief passages for review purposes. ISBN 978-1-939293-44-2 paperback ISBN 978-1-939293-45-9 e-book This book is set in Stempel Garamond. Text design by Bathcat Ltd. Typeset by Lapiz Digital, Chennai, India. Printed by BookMobile in the US and CPI Books Ltd in the UK. C O N T E N T S 9 An Introduction 19 Prologue: The Hospital’s Story 27 A Conscript in the “War on Cancer” 37 A Tale of Two Health Systems 45 The Politics of Hypocrisy 53 False Economies 61 An Education in Dependency 67 The Complicated Business of Surviving 79 Memento Mori 83 A Crisis Contrived 87 Talking About Cancer 93 Surprisingly, I’m Still Alive 97 Held Hostage by Big Pharma 105 Credits What is the price of Experience do men buy it for a song Or wisdom for a dance in the street? No it is bought with the price Of all that a man hath his house his wife his children Wisdom is sold in the desolate market where none come to buy And in the witherd feld where the farmer plows for bread in vain It is an easy thing to triumph in the summers sun And in the vintage & to sing on the waggon loaded with corn It is an easy thing to talk of patience to the afficted To speak the laws of prudence to the houseless wanderer . . . It is an easy thing to rejoice in the tents of prosperity: Thus could I sing & thus rejoice, but it is not so with me! —William Blake, The Four Zoas
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