Hundred Percent Chance: A Memoir
An authentic, page-turning debut memoir, "this intimate, passionate chronicle of recovery will appeal to those who've battled cancer" (Publishers Weekly). Perfect for fans of When Breath Becomes Air.
In 1990, Robert K. Brown was an ordinary college student studying abroad in England when a series of unexpected and extraordinary events would change the trajectory of his life forever. Choosing to ignore ominous early symptoms, he was still troubled enough to write in his journal "just for the record ... I am frightened because things are happening to me that I can't explain away."
What follows is a race against time to return home to Seattle for months of chemotherapy, countless complications, and a search for as much normalcy as possible when you're forced to face your mortality at twenty.
"While memoirs of surviving disease are plenty, Hundred Percent Chance stands apart through its genuine humor and unflinching portrayal of both the physical and psychological struggles that accompany a diagnosis of disease. Brown avoids inspirational platitudes, instead demonstrating the need for perspective and perseverance in the face of illness.
"Every person Brown introduces, whether their role is significant or small, will leave a memorable impression on readers. This memoir's focus on the tiny moments that ultimately shape and define a life, are particularly poignant and engrossing" (The BookLife Prize).
10% of all proceeds will benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Earn by promoting books
Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.
Become an affiliate
"Brown examines the rigors of cancer treatment in his candid debut memoir. . . This intimate, passionate chronicle of recovery will appeal to those who've battled cancer." - Publishers Weekly
"While memoirs of surviving disease are plenty, Hundred Percent Chance stands apart through its genuine humor and unflinching portrayal of both the physical and psychological struggles that accompany a diagnosis of disease. . . This memoir's focus on the tiny moments that ultimately shape and define a life, are particularly poignant and engrossing." - The BookLife Prize 2019
"Brown's writing is lively and lyrical, with moments of intense description offset by humorous ones. . . For those interested in seeing the toll leukemia can take on a young, healthy person, Brown's account offers the details in searing prose. An intense, deftly composed cancer narrative." - Kirkus Reviews
"Larger than life without trying to be. . . While the content of the book is raw, brutal, and honest, it is Brown's lively, rebellious attitude--and understanding that he was lucky to go into remission so quickly and to receive such excellent care--that makes this book a triumph. . . Hundred Percent Chance is an inspiring, provocative memoir about dealing with cancer that maintains its sense of humor when the going gets rough." - Foreword Clarion Reviews
"Brown's straightforward, unpretentious writing style is compelling and brutally honest. . . . . Regardless of one's personal experience with cancer or critical illness, these pages relate an essential human experience: the struggle to survive against the odds. This universal theme will resonate with almost any reader." - BlueInk Review
"A realistic, in-your-face honest and down-to-earth memoir about the rigors of treating and surviving cancer, handled with both intimacy and concern." - IndieReader
"Robert takes the reader inside the world of AML - an unexpected journey of diagnosis, treatment, and survival of a subset of AML that he was not supposed to survive. But, he did. . . . Within these pages you'll discover and come to understand Robert's mindset. Simply, but painfully it was: I will survive. No questioning, no heroics - just, I'm going to live. Hundred Percent Chance: A Memoir is an opportunity to live and feel the fear, the discouragement, the pain, the exhaustion, the struggle, the determination, the elation of surviving a monster." - Michael Copley, National Chairman, Beat AML, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
"The writing is gorgeous, almost lyrical, and it captures the voice of a young man in the '90s, one filled with strength and eloquence. Hundred Percent Chance: A Memoir evokes powerful emotions in readers - hope and despair, joy and frustration, love and pain - but the throbbing life within the protagonist, a life that permeates the narrative, will keep readers turning the pages." - Readers' Favorite
"Brown has a gift for weaving life arcs in and out of his writing. He captures the urgency of an unforeseen emergency as nimbly as the grinding march of a long, degrading chemo run. Important characters in his battle are allowed to shine and then recede as people often do in our lives. His story is presented in a dynamic flow of scene and feeling rather than an abrupt hopscotch from one square to the next. Hundred Percent Chance is both honest and present in its struggle, its naiveté and its determination." - Paul Miller, author of Vantage Point
