Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Random House Trade Paperbacks (2020), Edition: Reprint, 336 pages
DDC/MDS
| 973.04959220092 |
Description
"Born blind in Vietnam, Julie Yip-Williams narrowly escaped euthanasia by her grandmother, only to then flee the political upheaval of the late 1970s with her family. Loaded into a rickety boat with three hundred other refugees, Julie made it to Hong Kong and, ultimately, America, where a surgeon at UCLA gave her partial sight. Against all odds, she became a Harvard-educated lawyer, with a husband, a family, a life. Then, at age thirty-seven, with two little girls at home, Julie was diagnosed with terminal metastatic colon cancer, and a different journey began. The Unwinding of the Miracle is the story of a vigorous life refracted through the prism of imminent death. Motherhood, marriage, ambition, love, wanderlust, tennis, grief, jealousy, anger, comfort, pain, disease--there is simply nothing this book is not about. Growing out of a blog Julie has kept through the past four years of her life (undertaken because she couldn't find the guidance she needed through her disease), this is the story of a life lived so well, and cut too short. It is inspiring and instructive, delightful and shattering. It is a book of indelible moments, seared deep. With glorious humor, beautiful and bracing honesty, and the cleansing power of well-deployed anger, Julie Yip-Williams has set the stage for her lasting legacy and one final miracle: the story of her life"--… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member oldblack
I have mixed feelings about this book. On one level it's the memoir of a wealthy Chinese-American New York lawyer who is diagnosed with late stage bowel cancer in her late 30s and dies a few years later. She can afford to give herself the best possible chance of survival and, failing that, the best
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death experience. Not everyone has that luxury available to them. She reveals herself to be a controlling and almost manipulative person, following the example of the women of previous generations in her family. On the other hand, I think Yip-Williams has some very honest and useful observations to make about the cancer community and the process of dying - at any age - and I think the book is well worth reading for that alone. As I think more and more about my own death and how I want to live my life between now and then, books such as this one and, better, Helen Garner's 'The Spare Room', and also Atul Gawande's 'Being Mortal', help me to focus on the bigger issues of my own death and the deaths of people I love. Show Less
LibraryThing member jphamilton
A married woman in her thirties, with a couple of young kids learns that she has late stage cancer. In this instance, the patient decided to write her final story. This is easiest one of the bravest, most emotional stories that I've ever read. Sure, I lost my wife to cancer a few months ago, but
On a personal level, I was totally drawn into this story because it was so different from my wife's struggle. This is a story of a woman who commits to doing everything she can to live as long as possible — for her kids and her husband. Everyone who knew of her struggle, was well aware of the emotional rollercoaster ride that they were on, with all those test results, good number and deadly numbers can be either elating or crushing, and it can all seem so cruel. It seemed that there wasn't a treatment, type of chemo, series of radiation, or any other intrusive method thought up by the scientists of western medicine, that they were always ready for, until the very end. Because my wife chose an entirely non-Big Medicine route for her treatment (use of high levels of CBD and THC, with other alternative medicine, and supplements), reading of this big-money-Big-Medicine seemingly cruel form of treatment makes me so happy that my wife was as far away as possible from all of this.
Everyone make their own choice, for their own (or their family's) reasons. I would recommend anyone close to somebody facing this sort of a medical struggle, to read this book, and think of that simple little phrase — quality of life, when treatment decisions must be made. I'm still in awe of this book.
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this story would hit any reader like a ton of bricks.On a personal level, I was totally drawn into this story because it was so different from my wife's struggle. This is a story of a woman who commits to doing everything she can to live as long as possible — for her kids and her husband. Everyone who knew of her struggle, was well aware of the emotional rollercoaster ride that they were on, with all those test results, good number and deadly numbers can be either elating or crushing, and it can all seem so cruel. It seemed that there wasn't a treatment, type of chemo, series of radiation, or any other intrusive method thought up by the scientists of western medicine, that they were always ready for, until the very end. Because my wife chose an entirely non-Big Medicine route for her treatment (use of high levels of CBD and THC, with other alternative medicine, and supplements), reading of this big-money-Big-Medicine seemingly cruel form of treatment makes me so happy that my wife was as far away as possible from all of this.
Everyone make their own choice, for their own (or their family's) reasons. I would recommend anyone close to somebody facing this sort of a medical struggle, to read this book, and think of that simple little phrase — quality of life, when treatment decisions must be made. I'm still in awe of this book.
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LibraryThing member akblanchard
Harvard-educated lawyer Julie Yip-Williams is leading an affluent fairy-tale life, with a wonderful husband and two gifted daughters, when she is diagnosed with colorectal cancer at the age of 38. Able to afford the best medical care, she does all she can to enhance the quality of her remaining
It may sound churlish to say this, but I did not like this book as much as I thought I would. Derived from Yip-Williams's blog posts, the narrative is redundant and doesn't always flow well. Her writing style is stilted in places. There's a certain amount of humblebragging as well. While I admire her courage in the face of early death, I can't say the same for this book.
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days. What makes her story remarkable is that she was born into dire poverty to an ethnic Chinese family in Vietnam. She had severe congenital cataracts, and her own grandmother insisted that she be euthanized rather than allowed to live as a burden to her family. Fortunately, a twist of fate prevented this from happening.It may sound churlish to say this, but I did not like this book as much as I thought I would. Derived from Yip-Williams's blog posts, the narrative is redundant and doesn't always flow well. Her writing style is stilted in places. There's a certain amount of humblebragging as well. While I admire her courage in the face of early death, I can't say the same for this book.
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LibraryThing member Susan.Macura
Julie Yip-Williams is one of my heroes, but so is her husband Joshua Williams. Having gone through a similar situation with my father who died from his cancer at home surrounded by his family, just as he wished, I know the emotional and psychological cost to Josh and his daughters, as well as the
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importance of doing what they did to honor his wife's wishes. Julie has done us all a tremendous service by writing her tale, taking us insider her deepest secrets, dreams, hopes and finally, her coming to terms with the inevitable. This is a great book for anyone having to face their death being sooner than later, those who are their caregivers and anyone who just wishes to be a better person able to show empathy for others. Thank you Julie for helping us all to face our futures with courage, grace and honesty. Show Less
LibraryThing member KimMeyer
I found this a little long and maybe a little repetitive, but it's one of the better examples of the dying of cancer memoir genre thanks to its introspection and unflinching honesty.
LibraryThing member JSpilman
Brutally honest and insightful. Her story is remarkable from birth to death, but I could not read every paragraph. I found the book repetitive enough to skip whole passages.
LibraryThing member erwinkennythomas
Julie Yip-Williams’s The Unwinding of the Miracle: A Memoir of Life, Death, and Everything that Comes After was a rather sad book of an individual diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer.
From the outset readers learned about the author’s birth in Vietnam with blindness from glaucoma. Her family
Julie was later educated at Williams College and Harvard Law School in Massachusetts. During this time, she had internships in Asian countries, and travelled widely to seven continents although disabled. Eventually, she landed a job at a top law firm where she worked. Soon afterwards, she was diagnosed with metastatic cancer when a mass was discovered in her mid-transverse colon.
Julie received treatment for cancer from UCLA, NYU, and Memorial Sloan Kettering. Her CEA kept rising while being treated by oncologists, with radiation, infusions, and MRIs. With Stage 1V cancer she knew quite early that she was dying. But throughout this five-year period, Julie worried about the future of her husband Josh, young children Mia, and Belle.
This book was filled with gut-wrenching emotions that led up to her death. Many family members and friends pitched in while helping the family with their young children. Julie plugged on while taking pain medicine, but her suffering was excruciating. Still, she worked at putting her house in order. Her family bought and restructured an adjoining apartment in Brooklyn where they lived, purchased a new vehicle, burial plot, and she wrote goodbye letters to her husband, and children. During the course of these trials a lot of tears were shed, there were many quarrels, and the complete helplessness of a family with a young dying mother.
From the outset readers learned about the author’s birth in Vietnam with blindness from glaucoma. Her family
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under the influence of a grandmother nearly had her killed because of this disability. Fortunately, she escaped this fate because her family was able to escape by boat to California. While they lived in this state Julie had an operation, and regained some of her sight. These experiences were part of an early miracle.Julie was later educated at Williams College and Harvard Law School in Massachusetts. During this time, she had internships in Asian countries, and travelled widely to seven continents although disabled. Eventually, she landed a job at a top law firm where she worked. Soon afterwards, she was diagnosed with metastatic cancer when a mass was discovered in her mid-transverse colon.
Julie received treatment for cancer from UCLA, NYU, and Memorial Sloan Kettering. Her CEA kept rising while being treated by oncologists, with radiation, infusions, and MRIs. With Stage 1V cancer she knew quite early that she was dying. But throughout this five-year period, Julie worried about the future of her husband Josh, young children Mia, and Belle.
This book was filled with gut-wrenching emotions that led up to her death. Many family members and friends pitched in while helping the family with their young children. Julie plugged on while taking pain medicine, but her suffering was excruciating. Still, she worked at putting her house in order. Her family bought and restructured an adjoining apartment in Brooklyn where they lived, purchased a new vehicle, burial plot, and she wrote goodbye letters to her husband, and children. During the course of these trials a lot of tears were shed, there were many quarrels, and the complete helplessness of a family with a young dying mother.
Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
336 p.; 8.2 inches
ISBN
0525511377 / 9780525511373