This eloquent book takes us on a spell-binding journey into the workings of our bodies in health and disease. Dr. Charles A. Pasternak captivates us with his vivid and even poetic explanations of what keeps us healthy and vital, and what tears away at our health. He possesses the gift for rendering complex topics clear and lyrical, as in the ways our molecules interact with one another to decide the fate of our heart, brain, and lungs—whether we live or die.Why does disease rear its ugly head? Why does cancer take hold in some of us and pass by others? What roles do nutrition and stress play in determining our chances for a long, fulfilling life? Can we hold our eventual demise at bay by trying novel drugs and therapies? Dr. Pasternak also explores to what extent the illnesses we suffer—and even our level of intelligence—are dependent on the genes we inherit from our parents, or the food we eat, or even the environment we inhabit. The story of our bodies is a true saga that has never before been so engrossingly told.