London, December 2: Indian-origin Pulitzer Prize winner physician Siddhartha Mukherjee has now won the Guardian First Book Award for his “biography” of cancer, The Emperor of All Maladies. The chair of judges, Lisa Allardice, editor of Guardian Review, said Dr. Mukherjee’s “anthropomorphism of a disease” was a “remarkable and unusual achievement.” Dr. Mukherjee is assistant professor of Medicine at Columbia University. She said, “In the end it came down to a very difficult decision between a first novel and a first book of tremendous research. They were so different — both incredibly impressive achievements in their 
own rights, but in the end the Mukherjee was felt to be the more original.” Ms. Allardice added: “He has managed to balance such a vast amount of information with lively narratives, combining complicated science with moving human stories. Far from being intimidating, it’s a compelling, accessible book, packed full of facts and anecdotes that you know you will remember and which you immediately want to pass on to someone else.” The other four books on the shortlist were: Pigeon English (Stephen Kelman),Down The Rabbit Hole, (Juan Pablo Villalobos), The Collaborator (Mirza Waheed) and The Submission (Amy Waldman). Mukherjee, who had his schooling at New Delhi’s St.Columba’s School, where he was five years junior to Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, said then he began writing the book as he couldn’t point her to one thing that could explain cancer. “Essentially, it was a long process. I wrote it in little bits and pieces and it took about seven years,” Mukherjee said.
own rights, but in the end the Mukherjee was felt to be the more original.” Ms. Allardice added: “He has managed to balance such a vast amount of information with lively narratives, combining complicated science with moving human stories. Far from being intimidating, it’s a compelling, accessible book, packed full of facts and anecdotes that you know you will remember and which you immediately want to pass on to someone else.” The other four books on the shortlist were: Pigeon English (Stephen Kelman),Down The Rabbit Hole, (Juan Pablo Villalobos), The Collaborator (Mirza Waheed) and The Submission (Amy Waldman). Mukherjee, who had his schooling at New Delhi’s St.Columba’s School, where he was five years junior to Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, said then he began writing the book as he couldn’t point her to one thing that could explain cancer. “Essentially, it was a long process. I wrote it in little bits and pieces and it took about seven years,” Mukherjee said.