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Lump
A Memoir in Ineloquent Reflections
Contributors
Formats and Prices
- On Sale
- Sep 15, 2026
- Publisher
- Hachette Audio
- ISBN-13
- 9781668658475
Price
$18.99Format
Format:
- Audiobook Download (Unabridged) $18.99
- ebook $14.99 $19.99 CAD
- Hardcover $25.00 $33.00 CAD
Buy from Other Retailers:
For fans of Between Two Kingdoms and Milk and Honey, a dazzling, unconventional memoir—in essays and verse—of a young woman’s sojourn with breast cancer; a chronicle of the most tragic moments in loss, and a celebration ofthe most tender moments in life.
Question:
If one breast is triple positive
and the other triple negative,
do they cancel each other out?
Asking for a friend.
In this intimate meditation, Allison Sweet Grant begins at the place she assumed was the end. Barely 40, a mother of three, and just embarking upon her literary career, she started detailing her cancer experience the only way she knew how. In poems and compositions including “The Good Patient: A Play,” “A Note on Common Sense,” “Hot-Girl Summer,” and “1000 Kinds of Clouds,” Grant deftly explores every emotion, from the gripping panic of diagnosis to the bittersweet relief of recovery, and the heartbeats in between.
Unpretentious, gut-wrenchingly honest, and at times devastatingly funny, LUMP illuminates the fear, hope, everyday indignities of illness, and unexpected joys of healing with sobering clarity and wisdom. Whether you’re on a similar course, supporting a loved one through theirs, or simply appreciate lyrical musings and poignant prose, this evocative collection is one you will savor and share.
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“Lump is why poetry exists — to be unflinching and embracing. Allison Sweet Grant walks us into anguish and helps us find a way through it at the same time. She manages to make us shudder and laugh in the same turn of phrase. I’ll never forget this book, or the way it made me feel.”Brene Brown, PhD, New York Times bestselling author of Strong Ground
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“Many people have written about their cancer diagnoses, but few, if any, have turned their experience into poetry. Allison Sweet Grant has masterfully chronicled her journey into the great unknown with honesty and humor. Those who have been there, will recognize themselves in her stunning verse. Those who are, right now, will find a friend. Those who have never been on this road themselves will form a deeper understanding of what it means to be a cancer patient.”Katie Couric
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“Let’s face it: Reading about cancer can be depressing. Lump is not. Allison Sweet Grant covers the gravity of illness with remarkable levity. This funny, moving book is a breath of fresh air—whether you digest it all at once or a spoonful at a time, you’ll find yourself returning to it again and again.”Jenna Fischer, author of The Office BFFs and The Actor’s Life: A Survival Guide
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“In Lump, Allison Sweet Grant writes in tender, clear-eyed verse of the bewildering, infuriating, heartbreaking and heart-widening experience of cancer. Ballads, lists, and glorious free-verse riffs become a container for what cannot be contained, a way to express the maelstrom. To say what’s often impossible to put into words. To make peace with fortune. It’s the most necessary kind of alchemy, both for writer and reader. As Allison says herself, ‘This isn’t [her] book. It’s ours.’”Suleika Jaouad, New York Times bestselling author of Between Two Kingdoms and The Book of Alchemy
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“Powerful and poetic—gutting when it needs to be and soothing in all the right places. Lump makes the unspeakable feel relatable, opening up conversations that are often difficult to have. Allison Sweet Grant is an incredible writer, and I’m so happy the world gets to peek inside her beautiful brain.”Rupi Kaur, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Milk and Honey
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“In Lump, Allison Sweet Grant gives voice to a quiet pain experienced by millions of women and their families. Her words are raw and heartfelt, weaving together profound reflections and flashes of unexpected humor. If you want to understand breast cancer in the most human terms, this memoir is for you.”Vivek Murthy, 19th and 21st Surgeon General of the United States and New York Times bestselling author of Together
