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Skloot, Rebecca - The Immortal Life Of
Henrietta Lacks
The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks
EARLY PRAISE FOR
The IMMORTAL LIFE of HENRIETTA LACKS
“Skloot makes a remarkable debut with this multilayered story about ‘faith, science, journalism, and grace.’”
—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred review)
“Heartbreaking and powerful, Rebecca Skloot’s sensitive account tells of the enduring,
deeply personal sacrifice of this African American woman and her family and, at long last, restores a human face to the cell line that propelled 20th-century biomedicine. A stunning illustration of how race, gender, and disease intersect to produce a unique form of social vulnerability, this is a poignant, necessary, and brilliant book.”
—ALONDRA NELSON, Columbia University; editor of Technicolor: Race, Technology and
Everyday Life
“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
takes the reader on a remarkable journey—compassionate, troubling, funny, smart, and irresistible. Along the way, Rebecca Skloot will change the way you see medical science and
lead you to wonder who we should value more—the researcher or the research subject? Ethically fascinating and completely engaging—I couldn’t recommend it more.”
—DEBORAH BLUM, author of The Poisoner’s Handbook
“This is a science biography like the world has never seen … Ladies and gentlemen, meet
Henrietta Lacks. Chances are, at the level of your DNA, your inoculations, your physical
health and microscopic well-being, you’ve already been introduced.”
—MELISSA FAY GREENE, author of Praying for Sheetrock and There Is No Me Without
You
“Remarkable … The portrayal of Lacks’s full life makes the story come alive with her humanity and the palpable relationship between race, science, and exploitation.”
—PAULA J. GIDDINGS, author of Ida, a Sword Among Lions; Elizabeth A. Woodson 1922
Professor, Afro-American Studies, Smith College
“This book is extraordinary. As a writer and a human being, Skloot stands way, way out
there ahead of the pack.”
—MARY ROACH, author of Stiff and Bonk
The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks
The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks
For my family:
My parents, Betsy and Floyd; their spouses, Terry and Beverly;
my brother and sister-in-law, Matt and Renee;
and my wonderful nephews, Nick and Justin.
They all did without me for far too long because of this book,
but never stopped believing in it, or me.
And in loving memory of my grandfather,
James Robert Lee (1912–2003),
who treasured books more than anyone I’ve known.
The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks
Contents
A Few Words About This Book
Prologue: The Woman in the Photograph
Deborah’s Voice
Part One
LIFE
1. The Exam … 1951
2. Clover … 1920–1942
3. Diagnosis and Treatment … 1951
4. The Birth of HeLa … 1951
5. “Blackness Be Spreadin All Inside” … 1951
6. “Lady’s on the Phone” … 1999
7. The Death and Life of Cell Culture … 1951
8. “A Miserable Specimen” … 1951
9. Turner Station … 1999
10. The Other Side of the Tracks … 1999
11. “The Devil of Pain Itself” … 1951
Part Two
DEATH
12. The Storm … 1951
13. The HeLa Factory … 1951–1953
14. Helen Lane … 1953–1954
15. “Too Young to Remember” … 1951–1965
16. “Spending Eternity in the Same Place” … 1999
17. Illegal, Immoral, and Deplorable … 1954–1966
18. “Strangest Hybrid” … 1960–1966
19. “The Most Critical Time on This Earth Is Now” … 1966–1973
20. The HeLa Bomb … 1966
21. Night Doctors … 2000
22. “The Fame She So Richly Deserves” … 1970–1973
Part Three
IMMORTALITY
23. “It’s Alive” … 1973–1974
24. “Least They Can Do” … 1975
25. “Who Told You You Could Sell My Spleen?” … 1976–1988
26. Breach of Privacy … 1980–1985
Photo Insert
27. The Secret of Immortality … 1984–1995
28. After London … 1996–1999
29. A Village of Henriettas … 2000
30. Zakariyya … 2000
31. Hela, Goddess of Death … 2000–2001
32. “All That’s My Mother” … 2001
33. The Hospital for the Negro Insane … 2001
34. The Medical Records … 2001
35. Soul Cleansing … 2001
36. Heavenly Bodies … 2001
37. “Nothing to Be Scared About” … 2001
38. The Long Road to Clover … 2009
Where They Are Now