Mapping Fate: A Memoir of Family, Risk, and Genetic Research

by Alice Wexler

Book Overview

In Mapping Fate, Alice Wexler tells the story of a family at risk for a hereditary, incurable, fatal disorder: Huntington's disease, once called Huntington's chorea. That her mother died of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0520207416
• ISBN13: 9780520207417
• Release Date: December 1996
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Length: 319 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

WOW. Captures & holds me throughout.

Beautiful book. This book brings to life the science of Huntington's, as well as the personal dilemmas surrounding genetic testing, as written by one of the pioneers of this test. I also recommend Time, Love, Memory: A Great Biologist and His Quest for the Origins of Behavior to anyone who enjoys this book for the scientific, biographical aspect.

Very interesting

I felt Mapping Fate was a very informative and interesting book about Huntington's disease and genetic testing. I highly recommend it for anyone with Huntington's disease risk in their family. Also, very useful for anyone interested in genetics and genetic testing.

Interesting and well written

This book is just as other reviewers have said-- a heartbreaking but fascinating tale about two sisters' response when a devastating disease crops up in their family. But it's not a depressing, downer of a read. The two sisters deal with the future possibility of their own disease diagnosis in different ways but both have many lessons to teach all of us facing something difficult (and who doesn't at some point). And the story-within-a-story about the search for the Huntington's gene is a really candid and interesting look at the world of important scientific research. It's just a good read.

History of the disease and the people who want to cure it.

A must read for anyone interested in Huntington's disease. This book tells about how HD affects families and tells about how the gene was found after a ten year search. Courage and perserverance -that's the Wexler family-they give courage to so many others who are also on the same difficult journey with HD.

Compelling, frank and courageous account of genetic illness

Mapping Fate is a compelling memoir that successfully addresses the anguish, guilt, denial and mystery associated with terminal illness in a family, and the various ways that family members deal with it. Huntington's Disease is the subject of the book, but I think that people who have experienced devastating mental and physical illnesses in their own families will find many familiar and elegantly described emotions.I found the personal reflections and the story about the effect of this illness on the family most gripping. The search for the gene and ultimately a treatment is covered as well, and is very interesting but a bit more detached.Wexler has done an admirable job balancing introspective memoir writing with reporting on advances in scientific research.