Cancer
Why talking about death is a essential part of living
Mandy was 38 when she was told she was ‘in the end stage’, suffering from COPD and finding it more…
Low life
We cleared the kitchen table for a game of pick-up sticks. Remember them? Thirty long, thin bamboo sticks, their differing…
The Feelgood factor
When I wrote for the NME as a schoolgirl in the 1980s, it was recognised that there were musicians who…
The death of the author
The ‘journey’ — at least the one played out in public — begins with an announcement that you are incurable.…
Diary
Have you ever set your face against a book? This year sees Charlotte Brontë’s bicentenary and the novelist Tracy Chevalier…
Putting the sun in the shade
About a century ago, scientists started meddling with an unfamiliar force of nature and the rest of us were terrified.…
Low life
I was diagnosed with prostate cancer with metastases in April 2013. It was a bit of a shock, but when…
From surgeon’s scrubs to patient’s gown
Who would you trust to take a blade to your brain? Medical schools and hospitals, arbiters of this outrageous intimacy,…
Wild life
On New Year’s Day I took the family out for an evening walk on the ranch. Along the verges, lush…
A life well lived
‘I cannot say there is no vanity in making this funeral oration of myself, but I hope it is not…
Diary
Scientists are experimenting with growing replacement vocal cords in the lab, as well as transplanting them from dogs. That was…
Warning: this book only contains strong language
Dan Marshall, the author of this memoir, loves to swear. ‘It’s very difficult for me to write a sentence without…
Barometer
Killer facts The World Health Organisation added processed meats to its list of ‘known’ carcinogens. A few of the other…
The years of pain
I’m an old hand at cancer. I’ve had it nearly half my life
Sick and tired
When the link between tobacco and lung cancer was first established in the early 1950s, one obvious question arose: should…
Dying for attention
In the social media age, breaking ‘the last taboo’ is de rigueur
Real life
Insomnia has a lot to answer for. I have not been sleeping well for years but a few months ago…
Low life
After hitting me with the cancer diagnosis, the urologist offered me the choice of a longer life in exchange for…
Toxic fun with Mum and Dad
In 2008, when Taylor Wilson was 14, he created a working nuclear fusion reactor, ‘a miniature sun on earth’. At…
Low life
On Sunday morning, I was kicking a football in the back garden with my grandson. I had bought him his…
Not much cop
With Clocking Off, Shameless and State of Play among his credits, Paul Abbott is undoubtedly one of the most respected…
The cult of ‘wellness’
Our desperation to believe in power of lifestyle change makes us vulnerable to charlatans
Low life
The taxi-driver wound his window one third of the way down and put a priestlike, confessional ear to the freezing…
Low life
A fruity voice on the train’s announcement system said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, make sure you have all your belongings, family…
A Latin American shaggy-dog story
If nothing else, a private investigator who has learned his trade from the works of Simenon stands out from the…
