Episode Details

A dazzling, unconventional memoir—in essays and verse—of a young woman’s sojourn with breast cancer; a chronicle of the most tragic moments in loss, and a celebration of the most tender moments in life, for fans of Between Two Kingdoms and Milk and Honey.Question: If one breast is triple positive and the other triple negative, do they cancel each other out? Asking for a friend. In this intimate meditation, Allison Sweet Grant begins at the place she assumed was the end. Barely 40, a mother of three, and just embarking upon her literary career, she started detailing her cancer experience the only way she knew how. In poems and compositions including “The Good Patient: A Play,” “A Note on Common Sense,” “Hot-Girl Summer,” and “1000 Kinds of Clouds,” Grant deftly explores every emotion, from the gripping panic of diagnosis to the bittersweet relief of recovery, and the heartbeats in between.Unpretentious, gut-wrenchingly honest, and at times devastatingly funny, Lump illuminates the fear, hope, everyday indignities of illness, and unexpected joys of healing with sobering clarity and wisdom. Whether you’re on a similar course, supporting a loved one through theirs, or simply appreciate lyrical musings and poignant prose, this evocative collection is one you will savor and share.