cover image CANCER SCHMANCER

CANCER SCHMANCER

Fran Drescher, . . Warner, $22.95 (256pp) ISBN 978-0-446-53019-4

Drescher, most famous for her loud, nasal voice and her role on the 1990s TV series The Nanny, advises readers to "open a mouth" when dealing with their doctors in this down-to-earth account of her experience with uterine cancer. In the book—which serves as an unexpected follow-up to her 1995 memoir, Enter Whining—the actress describes living with symptoms for more than two years while shuttling from doctor to doctor without a diagnosis. She then depicts the hysterectomy that followed as well as her recovery, focusing mostly on the support she received from her friends and family and her first post-divorce boyfriend, who is 16 years her junior. She also devotes a chapter to the loss of her beloved dog, Chester Drescher. Consistently frank about her emotional ups and downs, Drescher addresses important quality-of-life issues such as fatigue and sex. Yet it is her storytelling skills and humor that make this uncomplicated book a good read. Although Drescher sometimes lapses into therapy-speak, tracing everything back to childhood, her one-liners can be priceless. Readers will warm to this straight-talking Queens native, even if they do tire of her celebrity woes (such as facing the paparazzi too soon after surgery). (May)