Man to Man: Surviving Prostate Cancer

by Michael Korda

Although prostate cancer is a disease that strikes nearly 200,000 men every year, it is a disease that has been shrouded in silence, in part because it strikes at the very core of masculine identity.  But in Man to Man , bestselling author Michael Korda breaks that silence, turning the story of his illness and recovery into a candid and instructive book that speaks not only to every man and woman whose life has been touched by prostate cancer but to everyone who lives in fear of it.

With unsparing frankness, Korda describes how he survived the ordeal of prostate surgery and its painful and humiliating aftereffects.  He tells us how tumors are graded, evaluates different treatments, and makes sense of prostate cancer's mystifying "numbers."  Practical, immensely readable, filled with information, and, above all, hopeful, Man to Man is literally a life-saver.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

is an English-born writer and novelist who was editor-in-Chief of Simon & Schuster in New York City.

Reviews

[Carol Bakker · Rating 3 out of 5]

My modus operandi for thorny situations, crises, or needs is to read. When the doctor told my husband he has an 87% chance of aggressive cancer (we should have a solid diagnosis in about 2 weeks) I started scavenging our library. It's our new evening recreation: sitting by the woodstove, each one reading a prostate cancer book.

Medical progress makes most books written pre-2018 obsolete. We don't have time to muddle through outdated advice. Yet I read Michael Korda's 1996 book because it was more about his experience than expert analysis.

This is a no-holds-barred memoir covering the big three: death, impotence, and incontinence. Ay-yi-yi! I read some post-surgery sexual therapies aloud to my husband and we collapsed in laughter. Unrelated quote:

This kind of thing is a common reaction to cancer. Trivial problems take on undue importance. There is a natural human tendency to turn molehills into mountains in the face of disaster, if only because thinking about relatively unimportant or pedestrian details gives people the illusion of being in control of their fate.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and good account of a man’s battle with cancer

It’s full of surprising events, I really enjoyed this book.

There were a couple of things that gnawed at me:

1/ weird fixation on importance and ability to have sex, at the beginning of the process, as if cancer was not the primary focal point. Same during recuperation and recovery.

2/ How connected and privileged the author was, able to procure the best care available, right down to the private medi vac plane. When I was reading through this part, I was constantly thinking: « are you aware of how pompous this sounds ? ». Very very few would be able to have access to such care just by making a few phone calls.

[Courtney Reads Stuff · Rating 3 out of 5]

An insider look at one man's battle with prostate cancer. He paints a visual of a necessary thing that all men of a certain age need to be mindful of. Sometimes the thought of the pain endured makes one flinch, but the temporal pain - in the grand scheme of things - is worth it. This is a PSA (Public Service Announcement) about getting a PSA (prostate-specific antigen) that men need to be aware of.

[Joan E.]

Dear Michael,

Watching the interview with Mary Higgins Clark, this evening; brought so many memories. In 1995, I was visiting my uncle John Astarita, at the Holiday Inn, Palm Beach Gardens. I traveled the state with my employer Glacier Water, and decided to look him up, and stay there every time I was in the area.

Well, of course we talked about my mother, his sister; and Gertrude, your mother. Uncle John was very proud of your accomplishments, and told me about your cancer. We all had dinner at their house, and I remember what a lovely home it was. Uncle John's ascot, champayne, and their two adorable pugs.

They took me to dinner, another time, at a beautiful seafood restaurant, and your mother had dungeness crab. That's how she kept her beatiful figure, and looked 20 years younger than she actually was.
Uncle John told me that she hadn't eaten a potato in 40 years.

He told me of your book, "Charmed Lives", and I was able to find it in a bookstore near me in St. Pete, Florida. I enjoyed reading it immensely. I guess that's why I feel like I know you. We had dinner, Gertrude, Uncle John, my mother Jean, and my dad Fred. You joined us; it was in Washington, DC. I was about 10 years old, and it seems like it was yesterday! The hotel was beautiful, and it was exciting for a little girl to be having dinner with such beautiful people.

My mother had told me many years ago, about you, and The Korda Brothers. She had read the book; and explained the family dynamics.
I believe that book was titled "The Brothers Three". She, of course, was enthralled, about your family, because, my uncle had married into such a famous family.

Well, I hope that you are fully recovered, and I am sure that Gertrude lived an amazing life, as I am sure that you are living as well. My uncle, told me so many wonderful things about their life together; 50 years of traveling, and meeting so many interesting people eg.
Omar Shariffe.

I would like to ask you if you have any pictures, or personal items.
It would be so nice to keep the Astarita name close at heart. I remember that Gertrude was in "The Three Sisters", and if you have
anything of that era, that you don't mind parting with, I would love to
have it to remember them.

"Thanks for the memories"!

Fondly,

Joan Mitchell
51 Southern Fairway Court
Etowah, N.C. 28729
828-891-4693