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Saxophonist & Social Activist Fred Ho Chronicles Transformation into "Radical Cancer Warrior"

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DIARY OF A RADICAL CANCER WARRIOR: Fighting Cancer and Capitalism at the Cellular Level by Fred Ho; Foreword by Magdalena Gómez; Introduction by Cynthia Franklin

“It's not every day you run into a musician who joins a protean range of talents—as a composer, saxophonist, writer, and bandleader—with a commitment to Marxist ideology." —The New Yorker

“Pioneering." —Los Angeles Times

“[Ho] achieves his cross-cultural goals with skill, grace, and humor...[he] has an audacious integrity." —The New York Times

Civilization as we know it has been defined by the battles we've fought and the ideals we've stood up for: the Cold War, the Civil War, World War II, the war on terror, and CANCER. In his controversial and impassioned memoir, Diary of a Radical Cancer Warrior: Fighting Cancer and Capitalism at the Cellular Level (September 2011), saxophonist and human rights activist Fred Ho treats his diagnosis of stage 3B colorectal cancer like a true warrior—emulating Sun Tzu, swordsman Murasashi, and Bruce Lee, who kept diaries when facing their most formidable enemies to understand them on a philosophical level. Ho acknowledges that while doctors and medications can treat his disease, true soldiers fighting the disease must look deeper into the very conditions of toxicity that give growth to cancer cells: the capitalistic tendencies that turn illness into a moneymaking business in the United States, and the numerous carcinogens that we are constantly adding to our food and drinks. Ho's search is not just for a “cure" in the medical sense, but for true healing of American culture.

Ho talks frankly about his battle—his exhaustive research, his grueling treatments, the dedicated friends who help him along the way and their promises of grandiose collaborative art projects once Ho is well. His journey depicts genuine personal growth, in which he learns to find joy in the simplest things: a blooming garden, a marathon of Battlestar Galactica, or a fresh pork bun, alongside the painful effects of his colon cancer.

A compelling, empowering, and insightful memoir that meticulously documents one soldier's aggressively fought war on cancer from diagnosis to chemotherapy and beyond, Diary of a Radical Cancer Warrior is a political manifesto for the age of carcinogens, white-collar crime, and a healthcare system that has failed many Americans.

About the Author Fred Ho is an American jazz baritone saxophonist, composer, bandleader, playwright, writer, and social activist. He holds a BA degree in sociology from Harvard University. He is credited with co-founding several Asian American civic groups, such as the East Coast Asian Students Union while a student at Harvard, the Asian American Arts Alliance in New York City, the Asian American Resource Center in Boston, and the Asian Improv record label. He is currently battling colon cancer and practicing an extreme raw food lifestyle, which he writes about in his forthcoming book The Extreme Raw Manifesto (Skyhorse Publishing 2012). He lives in Brooklyn.

Diary of a Radical Cancer Warrior: Fighting Cancer and Capitalism at the Cellular Level by Fred Ho

Skyhorse Publishing Hardcover On Sale: September 14, 2011 ISBN: 978-1-61608-378-6 Price: $24.95

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