Carcinoma Angels
Encyclopedia
"Carcinoma Angels" is a short story
by Norman Spinrad
first published in Harlan Ellison
's science fiction
anthology
Dangerous Visions
. It is a humorous story about cancer
.
At age nine, he decides he will become Filthy Rich, and proceeds to save, swap, and earn his way upwards. He becomes Filthy Rich by his standards by the age of twenty-five, then loses his interest in money.
He turns to Doing Good—toppling unpleasant Latin American governments, converting a tribe of Borneo headhunters to Rosicrucianism, setting up homes for overage whores, and sterilizing fecund Indian women. He tires of Doing Good at thirty, and moves on.
He decides to Leave His Footprints in the Sands of Time, and does so extravagantly until age thirty-eight.
At age forty, he is told that he has an advanced, well-spread, and incurable case of cancer
, and is given an expected year to live.
He proceeds to do everything probable to cure it, and when that fails, he turns to his specialty: the improbable. He goes to every source, then starts in on the unsourced.
He sets out to explore and conquer his own internal universe. He prepares a potent potion to be inserted by syringe, containing: Novocain
; morphine
, curare
; vlut, a rare Central Asian poison which induced temporary blindness; olfactorcain, a top-secret smell-deadener used by skunk farmers; tympanoline, a drug which temporarily deadened the auditory nerves (used primarily by filibustering senators); a large dose of Benzedrine
; lysergic acid
; psilocybin
; mescaline
; peyote
extract; seven other highly experimental and most illegal hallucinogens; eye of newt and toe of dog
. All of these drugs are meant to induce hallucinations, increase his brainpower, make him go to sleep, and keep him awake at the same time.
He falls into a coma and enters his body as some sort of spirit and cures himself of the cancer, which is personified as a biker gang: the Carcinoma Angels. But his treatment was too effective and now he can't get out.
This story has finally come true. See NY Times Science article: "An Immune System Trained to Kill Cancer" By DENISE GRADY Published: September 12, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/13/health/13gene.html?nl=health&emc=healthupdateema2
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
by Norman Spinrad
Norman Spinrad
Norman Richard Spinrad is an American science fiction author.Born in New York City, Spinrad is a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science. In 1957 he entered City College of New York and graduated in 1961 with a Bachelor of Science degree as a pre-law major. In 1966 he moved to San Francisco,...
first published in Harlan Ellison
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
's science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
Dangerous Visions
Dangerous Visions
Dangerous Visions is a science fiction short story anthology edited by Harlan Ellison, published in 1967.A path-breaking collection, Dangerous Visions helped define the New Wave science fiction movement, particularly in its depiction of sex in science fiction...
. It is a humorous story about cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
.
Story
Harrison Wintergreen is a man who has lived his life with the world as his oyster; he is as Larger Than Life as they get.At age nine, he decides he will become Filthy Rich, and proceeds to save, swap, and earn his way upwards. He becomes Filthy Rich by his standards by the age of twenty-five, then loses his interest in money.
He turns to Doing Good—toppling unpleasant Latin American governments, converting a tribe of Borneo headhunters to Rosicrucianism, setting up homes for overage whores, and sterilizing fecund Indian women. He tires of Doing Good at thirty, and moves on.
He decides to Leave His Footprints in the Sands of Time, and does so extravagantly until age thirty-eight.
At age forty, he is told that he has an advanced, well-spread, and incurable case of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
, and is given an expected year to live.
He proceeds to do everything probable to cure it, and when that fails, he turns to his specialty: the improbable. He goes to every source, then starts in on the unsourced.
He sets out to explore and conquer his own internal universe. He prepares a potent potion to be inserted by syringe, containing: Novocain
Procaine
Procaine is a local anesthetic drug of the amino ester group. It is used primarily to reduce the pain of intramuscular injection of penicillin, and it was also used in dentistry. Owing to the ubiquity of the trade name Novocain, in some regions procaine is referred to generically as novocaine...
; morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
, curare
Curare
Curare is a common name for various arrow poisons originating from South America. The three main types of curare are:* tubocurare...
; vlut, a rare Central Asian poison which induced temporary blindness; olfactorcain, a top-secret smell-deadener used by skunk farmers; tympanoline, a drug which temporarily deadened the auditory nerves (used primarily by filibustering senators); a large dose of Benzedrine
Benzedrine
Benzedrine is the trade name of the racemic mixture of amphetamine . It was marketed under this brandname in the USA by Smith, Kline & French in the form of inhalers, starting in 1928...
; lysergic acid
Lysergic acid
Lysergic acid, also known as D-lysergic acid and -lysergic acid, is a precursor for a wide range of ergoline alkaloids that are produced by the ergot fungus and some plants. Amides of lysergic acid, lysergamides, are widely used as pharmaceuticals and as psychedelic drugs...
; psilocybin
Psilocybin
Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug, with mind-altering effects similar to those of LSD and mescaline, after it is converted to psilocin. The effects can include altered thinking processes, perceptual distortions, an altered sense of time, and spiritual experiences, as well as...
; mescaline
Mescaline
Mescaline or 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine is a naturally occurring psychedelic alkaloid of the phenethylamine class used mainly as an entheogen....
; peyote
Peyote
Lophophora williamsii , better known by its common name Peyote , is a small, spineless cactus with psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline.It is native to southwestern Texas and Mexico...
extract; seven other highly experimental and most illegal hallucinogens; eye of newt and toe of dog
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
. All of these drugs are meant to induce hallucinations, increase his brainpower, make him go to sleep, and keep him awake at the same time.
He falls into a coma and enters his body as some sort of spirit and cures himself of the cancer, which is personified as a biker gang: the Carcinoma Angels. But his treatment was too effective and now he can't get out.
External links
This story has finally come true. See NY Times Science article: "An Immune System Trained to Kill Cancer" By DENISE GRADY Published: September 12, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/13/health/13gene.html?nl=health&emc=healthupdateema2