Reviewed by J'son L for Readers' Favorite

"Out of Time: One Couple’s Journey Through Cancer" by Nancy Greyson Beckerman is an insightful and moving account of one woman’s emotional journey as she comes to grips with her husband’s cancer diagnosis. By all accounts, Barry Beckerman was a healthy, physically active man in the prime of his life. The day he discovered a bump the size of half an orange on his inner thigh changed the course of his life forever. The author paints a painfully realistic portrait of the emotional highs and lows one faces as a caregiver and patient.

Beckerman’s "Out of Time" started out as a journal to record Barry’s illness and to keep it straight in her mind. Conversely, this journal blossomed into a blueprint for patients, families and medical professionals alike on how to handle a terminal illness with grace, dignity and hope. I typically would not have chosen this subject matter to read; however, having lost one of my closest friends to colon cancer in May of this year, I wanted to understand what she went through and what I could have done better or differently. My biggest takeaway, as Beckerman put it, “. . . is how we take so much for granted when we are well . . . it is such a blessing.” Being healthy is indeed a blessing!

Although the author is meticulous in detailing her ordeal, I think her story could have benefited from combining chapters. For such a short book (211 pages), I don’t think it is necessary to have sixty nine separate chapters. Despite this choice, the book still flowed well.

I would strongly recommend this book for anyone battling cancer or caring for someone with cancer. Although Barry ultimately succumbed to the disease, I feel that I, a perfect stranger, was somehow touched by his courage and strength. I grieve with Mrs. Beckerman and I celebrate her decision to live on.