National Cancer Institute director and Nobel prize winner Harold Varmus writes in the Washington Post that he wasn't much interested in science in high school — he much preferred novels. Varmus writes then became "disenchanted" with studying English literature in graduate school and headed to medical school. He has, to some extent, circled back around as he has written a memoir called "The Art and Politics of Science" and will be appearing at the National Book Festival. "As an author, I discovered things about myself and was changed in the process," Varmus writes. "Perhaps, after all, I still prefer novels to chemistry."