Queller, a television writer, brings all her talent to bear on the telling of her story and the stories of various friends and acquaintances she meets along the way who are also battling the disease. She is thoughtful, highly articulate, and deeply sensitive to all sides of the argument -- especially to her younger sister, who, though also traumatized by their mother's death, resists genetic testing herself and respectfully questions Queller's decision.
PRETTY IS WHAT CHANGES -- the title -- comes from Stephen Sondheim's "Sunday in the Park with George" and the full epigraph at the front of the book perfectly encapsulates the simple but profound beauty-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder ending of Queller's story:
Pretty isn't beautiful, Mother.
Pretty is what changes.
What the eye arranges
Is what is beautiful.
But the core of her story is much more than the rhetorical question of post-operative attractiveness and aesthetics -- it's about survival and risks you can live with -- hopefully for a very, very long time.
Also take our Community Poll: If genetic test results indicated that cancer was very likely in your future, what would you do?
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