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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot: A 15-minute Summary & Analysis
- Narrated by: Jason P. Hilton
- Length: 42 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Release date: 03-31-15
- Language: English
- Publisher: Instaread
Regular price: $3.95
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Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells, taken without her knowledge, became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first immortal human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than 60 years.
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- Length: 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 2
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Publisher's Summary
Rebecca Skloot's book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, chronicles the life, death, and immortality of Henrietta Lacks, a young black woman whose cervical cancer cells became one of the most important factors in bringing about important scientific and medical advancements in the 20th century. Her family, however, did not know that researchers were using Henrietta's cells in their experiments until much later. When the family learned the truth, they endured turmoil and heartache in the decades that followed.
Henrietta grew up in Clover, Virginia, where she lived and worked on a tobacco farm with her grandfather, Tommy Lacks, and many cousins. One of these cousins was David "Day" Lacks, who would become her husband.
Please note: This is an unofficial summary and analysis of the book and not the original book.
What you'll hear when you listen to this Instaread summary & analysis of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks:
- Summary of entire book
- Introduction to the important people in the book
- Analysis of key takeaways
About the author: With Instaread, you can get the summary and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, summarize it, and analyze it for your convenience.
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- azmom
- 04-20-15
Summary OK, analysis & takeaways better
This was the first time I listened to a 15-minute summary & analysis to save time from reading/listening to the book itself. It was informative enough. I'm not sure I would listen to one of these again were it not for the thought-provoking section at the end that analyzed the impact of the major points of the story. I enjoyed that more than anything. Wish the full version of books included "for further thinking" discussion prompts like these at the end. I might consider buying one of these summaries for books I HAVE read just for the analysis section to further contemplate what I read.
3 of 5 people found this review helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Peaches
- 10-01-15
ehh....
pronunciation was quite off, that it became annoying throughout the read. u see, the story within talks about pronunciation, and the reader was just wrong. Ex. Hela he pronounced "hayla". big No No...., Hey (Guy), was pronounced "Gay"..... needs some fixn.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful