Location: United States
Member Since: June 17, 2011

Myles Beskind


Biography

Myles is a two-time cancer survivor who has learned the power of laughter. He rediscovered writing through a blog during his second battle with colon cancer. At the encouragement of his blog readers, he now writes books to entertain those who are facing a similar situation. Are you ready to laugh at cancer?

Where to find Myles Beskind online

Twitter: cancerhumorist
Facebook: Facebook profile
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mylesbeskind
Blog: http://kickincancersbutt.blogspot.com

Books

Welcome to the Cancer Club - Surviving... one laugh at a time    by Myles Beskind
Price: $3.99 USD. 25520 words. Published on August 1, 2011. Nonfiction.
Lucky you! Somebody you know has cancer, and you get to care for them. Think of all the glory you’ll get from doing the driving, household chores, calls to insurance companies, runs to the pharmacy, extra laundry loads Maybe you’re the one with cancer. No worries (other than the whole cancer thing), you can read this book too. All kidding aside - cancer sucks...

Myles Beskind’s tag cloud

cancer    cancer care    caregiver    caregiver support   

Smashwords book reviews by Myles Beskind

  • Kicking Cancer's Ass: A Light-Hearted Guide to the Fight of Your Life on July 06, 2011
    star star star star star
    Robert Hawke is a funny guy, an actor and veteran of The Second City comedy troupe. His world turned upside-down the day he was told the odds were that lump in his neck was thyroid cancer. He needed a guidebook, something to tell him what to expect from this journey – the good, the bad, and the absurd. He couldn’t find such a book, so he wrote one for the rest of us. Kicking Cancer’s Ass: A Light-Hearted Guide to the Fight of Your Life is Hawke’s welcome gift to his fellow Cancer Club members. Funny people have written books about cancer before. Usually they are memoirs mixed with stand-up-routine yuks, like Robert Schimmel’s Cancer on $5 Dollars a Day (Chemo Not Included). I couldn’t read a book like that shortly after my diagnosis – it was too long on one-liners, too short on information I was craving. Hawke’s humor is subtler; it keeps the reader entertained at a time when they are likely being overwhelmed by a recent cancer diagnosis. There’s solid advice about the emotional roller coaster cancer patients will ride, the science behind the various tests and procedures they’re likely to encounter, and the naturopathic therapies that can be combined with the best Western medicine to improve the patient’s recovery. One typical example of the very practical advice the reader receives in the book: when talking with the doctor after the initial diagnosis, Hawke suggests, “Write the answers down… because what may seem crystal clear in the doctor’s office can slip your mind when you leave.” As any cancer patient will tell you, this one is right on the money. There are moments of silliness, like those in a section at the end of the book addressed specifically to caregivers. Hawke lists 8 ways to entertain yourself while at the hospital with your patient, from giving yourself a sponge bath to wheelchair racing to the Obstetrics Ward. These laughs seem to come along at just the right interval before fear and doubt obscure the reader’s ability to see the central message in the book, namely: you will get through this. If all cancer survivors come through the experience with the desire to help others learn from their own experience that Hawke obviously did, bookshelves would be flooded with great guides to the Cancer Journey. Until then, Kicking Cancer’s Ass is the one book every newly diagnosed cancer patient (and their caregivers) should read.