At the time of his death from cancer on 1 March 2001, journalist and broadcaster John Diamond had completed six chapters of what was to be "an uncomplimentary look at the world of complementary medicine". These chapters, based on his own experience and on researched fact, which were emailed each week to his editors at Random House, are both personal and poignant, hard hitting and controversial, tackling the issues raised by alternative medicine with total candour and his usual wit. The second half of this book features some of the best of Diamond's writing, including a selection of emails to colleagues and friends, articles from "The Times" and the "Jewish Chronicle" and other publications, together with excerpts from his final notebook. For seven years he wrote an immensely popular weekly column in "The Times" which, following his diagnosis with cancer, was given over to following the progress of the disease. As well as gaining him a Columnist of the Year award, it resulted in an avalanche of mail from thousands of his readers.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
Cynicism and half truth:
This is a terrible book written in a debunking polemical style but offering nothing of hope or evidence for its claims. As usual Dawkins writes in his usual evangelical style and mirrors that which he professes to despise. As for Dominic Lawson! No comment!
Snake Oild by John Diamond:
A must-read book for anyone treating patients with Cancer, for anyone with Cancer or for anyone involved with patients with any illness. An amazingly courageous man and extraordinarily moving story.
Just a short note:
Dear interested readers, although I live in the US I ordered from Amazon UK to get a hold of the paperback version of this book. I just received it this weekend. The 6 chapters which were available for "snake oil" are quite medical and speaks mostly about the fact that most alternative medicine is never been proven to work. I haven't read it all yet, so I can't not yet get specific the most part of the book are articles written by John from 1989 till a few days before his untimely death. The topics are... more info
