No Time To Die

by liz-tilberis

Liz Tilberis, the editor in chief of Harper's Bazaar magazine, was at the pinnacle of her career when diagnosed with ovarian cancer, one of the disease's deadliest forms. ("When ovarian cancer is detected early, the cure rate is at least a 90 percent five-year survival rate for Stage I diagnosis. At Stage IV, they tell you to go home and get your affairs in order," she writes.) In 1993, the day after holding a gala holiday dinner for the likes of Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan, Tilberis underwent exploratory surgery that revealed her cancer was at Stage III. Since then, she has survived three recurrences, massive doses of chemotherapy, and a bone marrow transplant. Tilberis's book is notable not only for the sanguine humor which she injects throughout, but also for her honesty regarding what she suspects was the cause of her fertility treatments with the hormone-stimulating drugs Clomid and Pergonal, which she points out are still widely used. (She never conceived a child, but is the mother of two adopted sons.) Tilberis is especially cutting with her descriptions of her coworkers' chilliness and lack of empathy when she first returned to work. It seems that AIDS causes notwithstanding, the world of fashion is still incapable of admitting there is suffering in the world. Tilberis also deserves praise for confessing that her infertility is due to fallopian tube scarring from pelvic inflammatory disease--often caused by sexually transmitted diseases. No Time to Die and Liz Tilberis are inspiring. While her cancer is in no certain way vanquished, Tilberis chooses to treat it as a chronic condition, not a killer. She's made it her mission to use her magazine platform and her position as president of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund to raise awareness of a complicated and frightening--but possibly preventable--disease. This book is as much a tale of survival and sang-froid as it is an excoriation of the cruelties of the two-faced world of fashion.

Genres: Memoir, Biography Memoir, Fashion, Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1998

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continued down the fashion magazine editor-in-chief rabbit hole by picking up No Time to Die, Liz Tilberis's honest and balanced memoir about her life in fashion and her more personal struggle with ovarian cancer. Her background and career were very different from Joan Juliet Buck and Anna Wintour, although their paths crossed many times over the decades. It was also interesting to see how working at a Hearst publication differed from that of Conde Nast. Harpers Bazaar was a very different place from either British or American Vogue.

"I don't know whether the world of fashion magazines is exponentially more deranged than, say, investment banking or air-traffic controlling or supervising a maximum-security prison. You can be the judge--eavesdrop on a typical day"

Tilberis is brutally honest about her infertility and her ovarian cancer diagnosis and treatment. Her compassion is boundless, as is her advocacy for women in the same situation.

[Elizabeth Swindell · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOVED reading about the fashion industry and the history behind Bazaar and Lady Di! very matter of fact when speaking about the cancer which i guess i was hoping and expecting to hear more about; overall really good!

[Pbwritr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining. Editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar, and her bout with ovarian cancer from 1994 to 1998. Very positive, charming. I skipped all the chapters that were purely autobiographical--she knew everyone!--even though fascinating. I looked her up--she died in 1999. She didn't talk enough, in my opinion, about her OVCA experience.

[Terry Ambrose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kira Peikoff has written a brilliant, fast-paced thriller that provokes questions about the direction of medical science today. With smooth writing, a well-thought-out plot, and realistic characters, “No time to Die” is a winner that fans of medical thrillers will love.
FTC Full Disclosure: A review copy of this book was provided by its publisher.

[Gabi Coatsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The editor of Harper's Bazaar writes about her life and how she coped with ovarian cancer. I liked the English background and the courage of the author.

[Mary Karpel-Jergic · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful account of a charmed life which was ended abruptly by the ravages of ovarian cancer.

In this narrative, Liz Tilberis provides a backdrop to her life and an account of her experience of ovarian cancer. Without doubt, she is energetic, determined and honest. This was a woman not inclined to feel sorry for herself but who equally refused to see her condition through rose tinted glasses. The shame is that the ugly biology that is cancer defeated all her passion and joy of life.

This is an interesting book because she had such an interesting and well connected life but it is also poignant and tells a very sad story of a remarkable woman who was both a wife and mother who had to face the unbearable burden of terminal illness.