A young man battles Hodgkin's disease and survives - with more than a little help from his Mom - in this wry and uplifting memoir about life, love and beating the odds. When Dan Shapiro's decidedly anti-drug Mom put aside her convictions and grew marijuana in her backyard garden - behind a discreet screen of sunflowers - he learned that in the face of a crisis we all have the opportunity to decide what is most important to us. In this hilarious, high-spirited, sometimes harrowing memoir, Shapiro invites us into his battle with cancer, his romance with an oncology nurse, his journey through graduate school and his most important life lessons. He tells his story with wit and grace and indomitable spirit, showing us that only when the rhythm of life is stirred violently are we able to discover its full beauty.