5 comments about Hot Lights, Cold Steel: Life, Death and Sleepless Nights in a Surgeon's First Years.

1. I can tell when I am reading a book that I really enjoy, it keeps pestering me until I finish it. Read it in 2-3 days!!! Very enjoyable. I even like the binding on this hardcover, large inside margins, etc. Hey Doc, how about writing another book??????



2. After making the decision to return to school after 7 years to become a cardio surgeon- I seriously doubted my own abilities. I read everything I could get my hands on concerning others and there first year experiences. Hot Lights, Cold Steel was amazing. I was able to relate with Dr. Collins and soon realize that I too may be ill prepared for like as a resident but along with anything, time, experience and studying will prove that I too can be just as amazing as he is. (Only difference- he has 12 children, whereas I only have 5). This book is a 5-star hands down.



3. From the moment I started reading it, it was like the initial incision with the scalpel on my brain and I could not stop until I got to the end (close the incision--take the patient to the recovery)!! Dr Collins has done a great job in this fast paced easy to read manual of the 4 years of residency at the prestigious Mayo clinic revealing to us the incredibly long hours of residency while raising up a family, living from pay check to pay check(earned mostly by moonlighting), driving cheap cars(esp the Battleship, ha!),dealing with life and death decisions on a daily basis and eventually making it through it all. The doctor has a great sense of humor (I guess 'tis one of the survival tactics in the battle of life.) His scalpel sharp pen can touch the soul of the reader! You will laugh and weep through it all(as must have Patti(his wife) and the kids). It has given me a greater appreciation for doctors--they have a high endurance coefficient! A must read for all the doclings and doctors-to-be.



4. I really enjoyed this book. The author was very down to earth and had a great sense of humor. He included a number of wonderful stories about his experiences during his residency as a surgeon. I found it very hard to put this book down.



5. The author describes in just the right amount of detail, what his residency in orthopedics was like at the prestigious Mayo Clinic. The struggle between the incredibly demanding hours of training and his responsibilities as a husband and dad are intense. Throw in some moonlighting on weekends in the ER and "you're good to go insane." A perfect summer read.

5 comments about Burning the Days: Recollection.

1. Near the conclusion of this outstanding memoir, James Salter writes, "It is only in books that one finds perfection, only in books that it cannot be spoiled. Art, in a sense, is life brought to a standstill, rescued from time." Salter's "Burning the Days" will rescue you, as it did me. He chooses to call it a recollection, rather than a memoir. The book discards the usual rules of autobiography, skipping back and forth in time, often giving few clues as to time and place. That allows the reader to be swept up in the luminous writing, soaring through the air with Salter the pilot or sitting beside him in Paris. Like the best memoirs -- "Refuge" by Terry Tempest Williams comes to mind -- "Burning the Days" should be required reading for those who want to write, or to live.



2. A colleague got me reading novels again after a long period by recommending "The Hunters." Not long afterward, I was reading "Solo Faces," stunned in both cases by Salter's crystal clear prose and the wrestling with themes of personal integrity. It has taken me a while to get round to his memoir "Burning the Days," which I found myself gulping down in two days and one long night of a holiday weekend. It has been a revelation.
   
   Salter's novels are case studies of what I'd call male mythology. The heroes of "Hunters" and "Solo Faces" seem trapped in hyper gender roles, testing always both a kind of grace under pressure and an ability to endure physical and psychological extremes. "Burning the Days" turns out to be a celebration of those values, where to be a man is to embark on a long, lonely journey of proving that one is both like and better than other men.
   
   The book is his own story of emerging from a fairly nondescript youth in New York to the life-transforming experience of West Point and a career as a pilot, along with the getting of a kind of worldly wisdom during times spent in Europe, especially Paris. His life as a writer introduces him to literary circles in New York and abroad and an international community of filmmakers and film stars.
   
   Through it all, Salter focuses often on the men around him who earn his respect. He marvels at the particular integrity that makes each of them admirable. He elevates each of them into a kind of pantheon, and when all is said and done, he hopes that his own life warrants him a place among them. By contrast, the women who pass through his life are remarked upon for their beauty and intelligence, but beyond that they are walk-ons in this book about men. Readers may be taken by his old-fashioned glamorizing of women, or they may take exception to it.
   
   Brilliantly written, the book is compelling for what it sets out to do - provide a remembrance of things past that not only captures moments and people in vivid detail but bathes them in a melancholy glow - like richly detailed sepia photographs.



3. The prose, as has already repeatedly been noted is wonderful. Much has been made of Slater's self-acknowledged unwillingness to reveal all the details. But much more is revealed in this book about Salter than the reader could ever hope for from a mass of minute details. In some crystalline passages, as clear as the view from his F-86, we see him thinking and his mediations on his own thinking and the prose turns to poetry: "Here among them, of what is one thinking? I cannot remember but probably of nothing, of flying itself, the imperishability of it, the brilliance." But he shows us the grayness as well as the dark and light of it. The struggling, the embarrassing ambition and jealousies, as well as the respect and the admirable. It is perhaps not a surprise that "Burning the Days" is so compelling -- it describes a very full and interesting life.



4. I love Salter's fiction. After reading "Burning the Days", his autobiography (memoirs if your prefer), I'm not sure that I like the man - but the book review should have nothing to do with that personal opinion.
   
   Salter's writing style is unusual. The syntax often makes one stop and reconstruct, thus stop and think. On rare occasions it's nonsensical. I particularly was annoyed with the confusion of general pronouns among mixed proper pronouns, the result being that I couldn't figure out who he was talking about. That said, his use of the language is superb. It's there in all of his work. And he's a wonderful "observer and describer" of people and things.
   
   His life story is, of course, fascinating. Raised in privilege in NYC. West Point. Combat jet fighter pilot. Author. Director. Screeenwriter. Literary socialite. World traveler.
   
   His singularly candid recounting of his years at West Point was excellent in quality and style. He gives West Point to us warts and all. And his internal struggles. Loathing it, living it, finally loving it.
   
   The tales of flight are absolutely riveting. Nobody does it better. True storytelling that sometimes touches your heart, and sometimes raises your heartrate with the tension. In reading these memoirs I found that as I had suspected, his first novel, "The Hunters", was largely autobiographical. For me, this only adds to the greatness of that work.
   
   The writing years seemed to be a little slower reading. At least for me. And I can't decide whether Salter was indulging in a little "name dropping". In any case, he travels in high company. He is loyal to and generous to his friends. Plenty of saucy tales, no vulgarity. Well done.
   
   I do not share his love for Paris. Salter breathes it. Perhaps it rejected me, as Salter claims Rome rejected him. No matter - Salter is an accomplished individual, in a wordly way, and travels in circles far above the heads of most of us. He does not claim to be atheist, but his overtures toward God (or gods) are tenuous and ambiguous. As I wrote earlier, I'm not sure I like him - but I savour his work.
   
   This is an unusual autobiography of rare quality. Generally, Salter presents himself as he often presents his fictional characters. If you've read any of his novels, you understand what I mean.
   
   This autobiography is not for the People magazine crowd. It is thoughtful and broad in scope, spanning an accomplished man's life. I recommend it.



5. I really liked Salter the Soldier. When he talked about his military days he seemed to be a man of principles who was living an exciting life. Several times when reading of his life as a writer after leaving the Air Force I had to look at the book's cover to be sure I was reading about the same man. He seems to have renounced the values he held dear while in the military and set out to do his best to emulate the unprincipled, bohemian life of the artist he longed to be. Baffling.
   
   Intresting, sometimes confusing, sometimes moving writing style. In the final analysis I'd have to say it was good though, because I read it cover to cover, putting it down only long enough to take care of the necessities of life.

5 comments about That's How the Light Gets In: Memoir of a Psychiatrist.

1. This book left me befuddled. What was the point? I was expecting thoughtful essays about the meaning of life, as filtered through the experiences of the author, a psychiatrist. Instead, the book had little more depth than a sixth grader's "What I did On My Summer Vacation" essay. I was amazed when Rako spent more time on watching her granddaughter feed birds than she did on the breakup of either of her marrriages.
   
   It's a disappointment because Rako's life seems to be a full and vivid one, but little of that wholeness and color made it onto the page. I finished knowing more about her mentor than I did about her.



2. As I was engrossed in reading That's How the Light Gets In, I tried to think of the one world that would describe it, and I think that word is elegant. One expects all kinds of "dishy" stuff in memoirs, but in this instance the author artfully circumvented this hazard without skimping on any of her feelings or struggles. I say, Bravo ! I identified in so many places, which made reading this book that much more pleasurable and validating for me. It is a fine piece of literary work.



3. Although this book is a biography on the life of psychiatrist Susan Rako, I found the most moving content to be in the insights and advice of her mentor Dr. Semrad that Susan shares during the last third of the book. Susan's life story does have its interesting moments, but, I have to admit that the details of her childhood days, life choices, and failed marriages were not nearly as compelling as the insights she passed on from her mentor. For me, these hand-me-down perspectives were the light that got in (the book).



4. overall not what I expected, and not interesting to me. agree with PW in that "the narrative's natural flow is often stopped up with word jams, bumpy prose and sometimes grueling therapeutic jargon"



5. Rako found the title of this wonderful memoir, "That's How the Light Gets In," in a song by Leonard Cohen. The whole line is "There is a crack, a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." For those of us who wonder what life experiences might lead a person to become a psychiatrist, I can recommend this book as a fascinating disclosure of one woman's journey -- and as an inspiration to the reader to follow one's dreams. I read the book in one sitting. Couldn't put it down.

5 comments about My Father's Heart: A Son's Journey.

1. Steve McKee has written a touching, nostalgic and informative book that will appeal to everyone.
   My Father's Heart is about Mr. McKee's family's experience of his father's fatal heart attack that came in the prime of his life. The book explores the personal and biological legacy of Mr. McKee's father's death. Cutting back and forth in time and geography Mr. McKee creates an engaging story that weaves themes of family and community relationships, coming of age and how he has come to terms with his father's heart attack and death.
   The book is also very informative about the current state of medical arts concerning healthy heart care and healthy living; the interplay of biological predispositions and the impact and control we can have on our own medical destinies. Mr. McKee leaves us with the reaffirming message that we are capable of influencing the course of our physical wellbeing and our life outlook.



2. As a teenager author Steven McKee watched his father die of a heart attack in their living room, part of a family chain of heart disease and death caused by lifestyle and family heritage. Disappointed by his father's ignoring of his disease, the author vowed to keep his heart in top condition - yet a lifetime of dieting and exercise didn't change his own diagnosis of serious cardiovascular disease. McKee's probe into a family heritage of illness makes for a moving story blending health and genetic insights with his own discoveries of motivations for change and health, making for a moving, engrossing survey hard to put down. Both health libraries and general-interest collections will find it involving.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



3. A touching book that brought me back to my own childhood...I am thankful to the author for impressing on me a very important lesson, that is, even though our fathers may pass on physically, their memories continue to live in our hearts forever influencing us in very important ways. Even though I was fortunate to have my father until he was 84 years old, it will always feel that he too was taken from our family too soon. My father's death, like the author's, from a heart condition, taught his children how very important it was to take better care of ourselves physically before it was too late. I especially appreciated the author's depiction of his childhood years, growing up in a neighborhood similar to my own in suburban Detroit. The author brought it all alive for me. This book is a GREAT read and I highly recommend it...



4. The number one killer in the United States has a personality. In Steve McKee's family odyssey--as with most people's--heart disease is very personal. It can snatch the life of your father, turn your world upside down, make you obsessively interested in your family tree, drive you to swear oaths of healthy eating and exercise, wring your worried hands over living long enough to see your own children make it to adulthood, curse the universe because you got what your father got, and finally understand that the life you want is up to you. "My Father's Heart" is as much about healthy hearts and loving hearts as it is about hearts under siege.



5. I heard about the book, "My Father's Heart: A Son's Journey" during an interview with the author, Steve McKee. The reason for the interest was loosing my husband suddenly last July 30, 2007 to a massive heart attack.
   We have 4 children, 2 boys then 2 girls. They range in age 41 - 47 years old.
   
   The children have become very conscious of making sure that they are getting thorough doctor examinations every year, something that, especially the men, have not been faithful in doing. They all do exercise. So this part is good. However, they are all having a very difficult time in the grieving process because of the closeness to their father. He was a very animated and loving man, so the void is great.
   
   When I listened to the interview on the Today Show, I thought that this book might just be something that the children should read to help them in their loss. I purchased 4 copies and gave a copy to each one on Valentine's Day.
   
   I have started to read the book and have found many similarities that I know they will be able to relate to.
   
   I was very happy to have found the book on Amizon.Com. The cost was a lot more reasonable then if I had bought these copies at a book store. I received the books 3 days after I ordered them.
   
   This book depicts the love of family and the loss of a very dear member of that family, even though the father, knowing his condition, did not take care of himself as he should have.

5 comments about Reasonable People: A Memoir of Autism and Adoption: On the Meaning of Family and the Politics of Neurological Difference.

1. This book will bring tears of acknowledgement and smiles of joy for those families who grapple with some of the these same issues. I truly believe the universe brings certain people together......Ralph, Emily, and DJ are three of those. It is time the world changes the perception of competence and what can be accomplished in believing that, right from the beginning. Ralph is a talented, thoughtful writer, and our family thanks him, and all the Savarese family for opening their lives up for this incredible story.



2. This is a brilliant, moving memoir that I would recommend to any reader. Despite the seriousness of its topics, this is a page-turner that you will not be able to put down (I read it non-stop in two days, as did my mother!). As someone with no experience or knowledge of autism, I found Savarese's book to be incredibly informative on many levels and lucidly written. But more than that, Reasonable People asks provocative questions about how we define family, community, and inclusion.
   
   A must read!



3. Savarese's book on autism is a paradigm-altering read. In this memoir he recalls all that went through the transition of his young adopted boy as a noncumunicative "thing" (as seen by society), to a poetic activist. This book is more than a history of one family, it is also a commentary on our foster care system, how we treat those with disabilities and our education system. It also discusses the difficulty in changing scientific paradigms.
   
   Although Savarese's prose and simile often get in the way - making the reading more difficult as you try to decipher some of the esoteric analogies - they are often very humorous, in a story filled with the tragedy of a boy tossed into society's dumpster. It is a story of sexual abuse, physical abuse and neglect. It is the story of a child abandoned and mistreated that is then rescued by his loving, adoptive parents. What I found very interesting about Savarese's far left agenda, is that he recognizes the problems that we have had in addressing how to care for orphaned children and that neither the left nor the right have any really good solutions. The solutions are found in the path that the Savarese's took - personal involvement and dedication to the weakest in our society.
   
   Unfortunately, after reading of the untold sacrifices made by the Savarese's, I would come to question whether any of us have the charity and strength to do what they have done.
   
   This book was difficult to put down and hard to pick up to read. The pain suffered by DJ (their autistic boy) made it difficult to pick up while the odyssey of DJ from a "non-person" to a powerful and strong advocate-kid via facilitated communication is amazing. I often felt like I was reading about an alien that had visited the earth.



4. This is a very interesting read. I am a mother of 5 children 2 of whome have autism and I have read many books on the subject. This story was like none that I have ever read before. I would have to say that the author and his wife have done the most amazing job of parenting this little boy and they must be truly wonderful people. Emily, DJ's mother must be so knowledgeable and so kind and patient. She is such an inspiration. DJ's father also impressed me, with his determination to give DJ the life he is entitled to. It is a wonderful story which touches on so many interesting and rarely spoken about topics in regard to disabilites. I was delighted to reach the end of the book and see just how much DJ had improved, and to know that the outcome of a little boy's life has been changed so dramatically for the better thanks to the kindness of two very special people.
   
   I did how ever find some of this book very hard to read, the shocking abuse that DJ suffered in foster care, before his wonderful parents adopted him - I found this very disturbing and distressing. I also felt that the author goes off on a few tangents about his theories and quotes several other authors in great detail which I found a bit boring and hard to read.
   
   Overall it was an amazing book.



5. To be sure, this book is a compelling and engaging story and you feel tremendous admiration for Savarese and his wife, in their attempts to connect with their adopted son, DJ, who is profoundly autistic. However, there is so much more in the book than just that story, and I thought much of it was distracting. The poetry quotations, the interjections about Savarese's terrible relationship with his pompous and autocratic father, the recaps of the back-and-forth exchanges with DJ's biological father and his new wife (who Savarese despises), etc. etc. I enjoyed reading this book but all in all, I felt there was just too MUCH here. It read more like a stream-of-consciousness emotional outpouring by the author than a story with an organized and compact narrative. Savarese is a brilliant man and a talented author, no doubt, but a deft editing hand was needed here, and that didn't happen. Quite a bit of the extraneous information was marginally relevant to the story, but the narrative would have been stronger without all the other "stuff" thrown in. There are amazing, poignant moments in this book - the subplot about baby Charlie just broke my heart, as a mother - but I think DJ's story would have been better served by tighter storytelling and less interjection of Saverese's own editorial opinion and personal history. Still very much worth reading, and ultimately an amazing story. I did appreciate Savarese's discussions of the frustrations and exasperations of living with DJ, alongside the discussions of the triumphs. Savarese and his wife are truly amazing individuals who could teach us all a few lessons about love and acceptance.

5 comments about Warm Springs: Traces of a Childhood at FDR's Polio Haven.

1. There is not a whole lot out there, as far as recollections of the most recent polio years in the US. Having had the disease in 1954 myself, I found this to be a friendly book. It's a great story of how polio people never quit. We, as a group regardless of our various disabilities, have had successfully full lives. And those of us who are dealing with Post Polio Syndrome just keep on keeping on, as does the author of this book.
   
   Hats off to Susan Richards Shreve. Thanks for a good read.



2. This book was beautiful, honest and thoughtful. To remember what it was to be 11 or 16 or 25 and what was important to us then and to keep from judging our younger selves seems to be part of our job after middle age. After being parents ourselves we can be more forgiving to our own parents and having been children we can keep from judging our children. Susan Shreve takes her story and through her gaze helps me see what was important what is still important and how those things have changed. I will be thinking about this book for a long while.



3. Being a post-polio survivior myself, I took great interest in this true account of a young girl's memory of her years there. I was a little disappointed in the building up of Joey's "flying thru the air" to the actual account of his breaking of both his legs...and thats all that was said of that. I gathered she was forced to leave after that,
   as the story seems to abruptly end right after that.
   I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of Warm Springs and FDR's Splendid Deception. ( His bout with Polio at Warm Springs.)



4. I was anxious to read this book because like the author, I spent a good part of my childhood life in Warm Springs. I truly enjoyed this memoir which brought back memories and feelings of my own childhood. I laughed and cried and relieved many of the author's experiences which were very similar to my own. The book is very well written and I have lent it out to friends that have not had any ties to polio, except knowing me. Everyone has enjoyed this light and entertaining reading.



5. When I was a boy we had this lady come into my creative writing class at school, and she read to us from one of her novels. Many of us fell in love with her at first sight, and especially when she began reading the pages of her book, for her voice as many now know, is low and enchanting, the sort of voice that could launch a thousand ships. She was born a little too early to get into the phone sex business but she could have cleaned up! Now comes the tragic story of her heartwarming travails back in the late 40 and early 50s, when she was one of the "polios," as they called themselves, installed among other children in the long hot hospital they called "Warm Springs."
   
   in little Susan's day, the specter of Franklin Roosevelt, the most famous polio victim, was ever present. His photo was in the office of the main doctor, and the little children toasted to his memory (the President had died only five years before, keeping the extent of his paralysis a top state secret, but among the stricken, he was always eager to share).
   
   She was a difficult child born to a wonderful mother who was a top chef and did everything perfectly. Stuck in Warm Springs, her fantasy life really took off and she was forced to be the roommate of sullen, disapproving Caroline, and also she found herself a little boyfriend called "Joey Buckley," which made living in the enforced conditions of Warm Springs a bit more bearable. Her mother sent her many clippings to read, but only one book, oddly enough it was Shirley Jackson's THE LOTTERY, which Susan didn't read but Caroline did.
   
   She had a strange but understandable passion for Father James, the hospital padre, who could make any girl forget her vows. A charming man, James had what we would call today, "charisma." I enjoyed this book but came to feel that she, Susan, was spinning out tale after tale based on tiny scraps of memory, for no one could remember all that, but embroidery is what the novelist does best: we learned that long ago at Ms. Richards Shreve's knee back in the classroom at school.

4 comments about Patient by Patient: Lessons in Love, Loss, Hope, and Healing from a Doctor's Practice.

1. Having read Dr. Transue's first book I had really hight expectations for this book..Possible too high. I stopped reading at around page 170. Too much personal info on her life. I was looking for more stories of what she has faced in practice.



2. I loved this book! Dr. Transue has a remarkable talent for expressing and integrating her own and her patients' life experiences. I am a 62 year old woman in pastoral ministry and I would use this book as a text for a class in caregiving. The author's ability to listen actively and respond compassionately is better expressed in this book than in many texts designed specifically for that purpose. In addition, Dr. Transue illustrates how she dealt with significant personal experiences in a way that allowed her not to lapse into martydom or exhaustion but rather to use what she learned in life to minister more tenderly to herself, her family and her patients. I read it in one sitting and then read it again.



3. I would not ordinarily comment on-line about books I have read. However, I would love it if every woman out there who is juggling the emotions and logistics of working (at home or outside home), raising children, and especially for anyone who has a parent or loved one with Alzheimers, to read Dr. Transue's book. You know, until you have "been there" there is no way to honestly share and understand. Dr. Transue expresses her experiences with real life so very eloquently in this book. On one page I was laughing hysterically and one page later I was in tears. I have been searching for the words to describe and cope with the realities of being in this "sandwich generation." Dr. Transue has given me those words and strength through her writing. I will be forever grateful as I feel I have been given a huge gift by Dr. Transue. Thank you for allowing me to share.
   Nancy Lotto



4. I just fell in love with this kind woman. If I was a doctor, this would be the kind I would want to be. Am very much looking forward to reading her first book now. She has the kind of character I wish to have--the way she can talk with patients is maybe what we may think in our hearts but she can actually put into words. So unbelievable to have tragedy mixed with some of the most laugh-out-loud moments. Truly a privilege to read her accounts. We need more books like this.

5 comments about Just Here Trying to Save a Few Lives: Tales of Life and Death from the ER.

1. Seasoned ER doctor Pamela Grim gives us a bleak and visceral view of her experiences in the ER and doing voluntary service for Medecins sans Frontieres. Unlike glossy TV programs and other stylised reports from these hostile territories, she does nothing to glamorise her work.
   
   Dr Grim tells us of both the miracles and great "saves" in the ER and the senseless deaths from self-destruction, homicide and accident. She does not sweeten the pill. Her colleagues are cynical, sarcastic and burnt-out; hardened by a daily diet of disaster. Nor does she focus on the big action all of the time - the tension pneumothorax "catch", delivering clapped-out crack babies, cracking the chest - she reminds us of the daily grind of sniffles and sore throats who won't wait to see their GP, of sprained ankles demanding to be seen despite the polytrauma patient in the resus room. She sees patients who have been shot because of drugs; cop colleagues gunned down in the line of duty; and is herself threatened with a gun by an irate sprained ankle patient who is fed up of waiting - before then saving that same man's life when he is taken down by the police. Death, it seems, and ER doctors make no moral judgments.
   
   Understandably, she is ambivalent about her role in the ER department and watching those around her burn out. Volunteering in response to her own burn out, she travels to warzones and alien environments to do what she can as a doctor. In Nigeria, Bosnia and Macedonia she finds herself poorly equipped, despite the organisation's efforts, to deal with disease, displacement and devastation on a large scale. Simple lack of drugs and basic equipment make delivering anything more than basic medical care impossible. She quickly neutralises any romantic notions of "saving the world" and scratches together what she can to save a few lives. In the middle of a meningitis epidemic the team do what they can with oily chloramphenicol, a couple of other drugs and iv lines labelled "TOUCH THIS IV AND YOU DIE". For another endemic disease, tetanus, (which she knows could have easily been prevented with a simple vaccine back home) she finds the limits of her drugs exceeded: there is not enough valium in the hospital to stop the patient's spasms and no quiet, dark room in which he can die. In the grand scheme of things, she can make only the smallest impact, but finds that she can (sometimes) help individuals: the bus driver's daughter, the teacher's mother.
   
   
   dr_sasp



2. In "Just here trying to save a few lives" Dr. Pamela Grim paints us a vivid picture of life in the ER. As an EMT student I found the book captivating and informative. The book started a little slow but quickly picked up the pace. As we travel with Dr. Grim from hospital to hospital and from country to country we see the struggles and trials that doctors face every day. There was a lot of medical language that, had I not been an EMT student I would have not understood but would still be able to follow the story. Overall this was a very good book and I would recommend it to any one interested in going in to the medical filed or to anyone who is curious of what doctors face in their profession.



3. Overall the book is an OK read - it would have been much better if the author could get over herself. I'm glad she became a doctor and I'm glad she helped out in areas of the world that desperately need medical professionals. If the writting had been more about the situations themselves and less about getting the reader to worship or pity the author then it would have been a good book. Many of her comments made me feel sorry for those who had her as a doctor - I hope that the treatment of those patients was more caring than the write ups.



4. As a medical student and a former employee of the emergency department, I found this book to be a very realistic, while heartrending account of what actually occurs in the ER. Dr. Grim lays out a beautiful picture of the unseen (to everyday society) tragedies that occur on a daily basis. I loved her writing style and accounts of her overseas ventures. She painted a picture of a Macedonian refugee camp so vivid, I feel like I have been there. I hope that she continues to write. I think medical students, especially those interested in emergency medicine, and others in the medical field will love this book as much as I did.



5. This was an excellent book, great material and well written. You could actually put yourself in the authors shoes.

5 comments about Mozart and the Whale: An Asperger's Love Story.

1. This book is an honest account of growing up autistic. The authors do not, as many authors on the spectrum do, attempt to force-fit their lives into some sort of mold. They describe their lives as they were, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
   
   In doing so, they have made a book that's easier for me as an autistic person to identify with, than a lot of the books in which people fit themselves to a mold. I loved reading about Mary's increased trouble in school during adolescence, I had the same problem, and some of the same responses to it. While it was a confusing and horrible time in my life as far as my own experience of it goes, it might have been less confusing if I'd had a book like this at the time. If Mary Newport reads this, I want to thank her for writing about that.
   
   I also like their unflinching looks at their flaws. The ability to look at oneself honestly without shying away from the bad parts is something I have admired, and wanted to emulate, for some time.
   
   The most important thing that I got out of this book, more than the many complex details in the lives of the authors, was the honesty, the ability to tell it like it was to the best of the authors' ability. I am glad they wrote it, and glad to read it: It is a refreshing change from a lot of what's out there in the world of autism literature.



2. After seeing the movie and meeting Jerry and Mary Newport really wanted and needed the book. Usually like books over the movies. So glad to have and I am reading it right now. Good to have it.



3. "Mozart and the Whale" is the story of two people with Asperger's. Despite their areas of competence and even brilliance (Jerry and mathematics), they fail to rise above entry-level jobs such as taxi-driver, librarian assistant, cashier, etc. due to being held back by lacking normal career drive and planning, unpredictable and uncontrollable rages, inability to form normal social relationships and emotional connections, not answering the phone at times, and self-focus, as well as inappropriate job behavior.
   
   The authors take us through their early lives, meeting and marrying, splitting, and finally joining up again. The bad news is that both come close to suicide, and the good news is that they eventually find happiness together.
   
   What is the solution? Jerry suggests understanding adults during one's early life are very helpful, but that marrying Asperger's people together is not a solution - eg. the male/female ratio is about 4:1.
   
   My "frustration" with the book? That so much is lost due to a slightly different DNA, internal brain wiring and/or chemical balance.



4. 
   Very good book, well written, would recommend it to anyone who someone with autism. AAA+++



5. The best way to learn about Aspergers is from what AS people have for sharing! Jerry and Mary share their love story in a way unlike any romance novel you'll find to read. As soon as I began reading this book, I could not put it down until I finished it! It made me laugh, cry, think, and sigh. Never was I bored for even a moment!
   
   What makes this story extra special is that even though Jerry and Mary Newport are both AS people, they provide AS perspectives from their own side. Mary is much more accepting of the unique traits AS gives her than Jerry is. Regardless of this difference between them, they both can understand, appreciate, and accept each another. This is more than what they get from most other people.
   
   The book "Mozart and the Whale" is much better than the movie. The movie is entertaining but the book does a much better job of portraying what AS is like, along with it being more entertaining to read than the movie is to watch.
   
   I was blessed with the opportunity to spend some time with both Jerry and Mary Newport in person after I read their book. They were exactly as I imagined them to be. That must mean their real personalities shine through in this story!

5 comments about The Devil's Doctor: Paracelsus and the World of Renaissance Magic and Science.

1. The Devil's Doctor is a remarkably well written biography of Paracelsus as well as social history of his life time, that period in European History when the Scholastic mindset of the Medieval was being challenged by the coming Enlightenment. Ball, who writes with great clarity and skillful organization shows Paracelsus as a unique individual in the middle of this social revolution, not seeing the whole picture, but living on both sides of the split.
   
   An alchemist who grew up in a mining region of Switzerland where the manipulation of metals was prevelant he received a scolastic education in medicine. He left early because he realized that the medicine of the Greeks no longer served. He sought out the best teachers and herbalists to educate himself and was recognized as one of the best doctors of his time. He grew up in the Roman church, but thought, wrote, and preached independently his own brand of spirituality barely escaping condemnation for heresy.
   
   I had read bits and pieces about Paracelsus over the years, but gathered almost nothing about the man. By putting Paracelsus in his time and many places (the man traveled a get deal for the times), Ball has made him real and his significance to European, and so world, history understandable.
   
   I can't say I disliked anything about this book. Except, maybe, the fact that Paracelsus was associated with so many interesting characters who deserved books of their own, which I'll probably never find. I highly recommend this book to those interested in this period of history even if they scoff at alchemy. If they scoff, Ball will give them a better understanding of its significance to the period.



2. The voluminous study written by P. Ball bears evident mark of his profession, that is of his being physicist. One has to appreciat how many historical topics he was able to cover in his book, less impressive is, nevertheless, his ability to discover the most important ones and to explain Paracelsus thought on the ground of the historical context so carefully described. Author's basic despise -- at least that's what I feel in his book -- for questions of theology and religion that, according to him, have at best a historical importance seems to prevent him from better understanding of real problems of Paracelsus, and even of real meaning of his "magic". Well, according to the title, Ball wanted to describe Paracelsus in the context of the "renaissance magic and science", yet this picture would be, and is, distorted if the effort is not made to understand the complex of his thought from his perspective, to find out what for him is important.
   Another thing is that Ball works only with english anthologies and even, if I'm not mistaken, only with english written sources in general. Sure, it's not very easy to read Paracelsus in the original Swiss German dialect, yet to me it seems inevitable if one wants to get out of beaten tracks of long rooted, sometimes superficial opinions, and to get inside the text and thoughts.
   So, if you want to read a reliable and better balanced study on Paracelsus' natural philosophy as well as on his theology (and you are not craving for an "esoteric" interpretation) read rather Andrew Weeks' nicely short monograph on Paracelsus and keep reservation about Ball's book: historically he seems to have found the proper sources to use, but systematically he's then not going deep enough to discover the "real" Paracelsus. If you read in German check the brand new and very valuable, although a little difficult-to-read, book by M. Bergengruen (Meiner 2007). Or just reach for the old, eventhough also partly one-sided "Introduction" by W. Pagel to add some more insights in the paracelsian thought.



3. I very much looked forward to reading this book, as I have been interested in Paracelsus for many years. But it does not strike me that Ball is interested in Paracelsus. Quite the contrary--throughout the book, he evidences his disdain for Paracelsus. As I read along, I found myself wondering why he had chosen to write the book at all.
   
   Important ideas that Paracelsus is credited with developing or originating are missing in Ball's treatment. For example, the Doctrine of Signatures, which Paracelsus developed and which was taken up by later medical Paracelsians and became widespread, gets hardly any attention. In fact, I learned more about Paracelsian ideas from Principe's recent book on Boyle as alchemist, which I happened to read at the same time. Principe did not feel obliged to sneer at Paracelsus at every turn.
   
   I also found that the organization of the book was problematic. For instance, a chapter might be named for the time Paracelsus spent in Ingolstadt, but that chapter does not actually discuss it.
   
   If you are interested in Paracelsus, this is not the book for you. If, in contrast, you are interested in snickering at the past from what you imagine to be the exalted heights of scientific rationalism, this book will very much gratify your sense of self-importance.



4. My interest in this book was predicated more on the World of Renaissance Magic and Science than an interest in Paracelsus, who I had no awareness of prior to reading The Devil's Doctor. I wasn't at all disappointed. Philip Ball recreates the exotic beliefs of the medieval world in depth and with great precision. It was much more this social exploration of common beliefs and mystical influences that I was interested in than our esoteric subject. For me, the details on Paracelsus and the early steps toward modernization of medical doctrine were more of peripheral interest. I've read Demon Haunted World, A World Lit Only By Firelight, and Sleepwalkers, among others, but found richer detail and a more visceral illustration in the mindset of individuals presented here. My fascination with the Renaissance is the process by which humankind emerged from the world of supernatural mysticism to the discovery of rational thought and critical observation. Ball does a wonderful job of detailing the all-encompassing and powerful grip of mysticism in an era evolving toward rational explanations of nature. Readers interested in Paracelsus may find this material intrusive, but I found it of primary interest. As for Paracelsus himself, I came away with mixed feelings.
   
   On one hand, his beliefs represent very much the spiritual environment in which Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Leibniz, Newton and all those who broke the shackles of mysticism were immersed as they tried to understand the workings of the supernatural. Rationalism seems to have been an unintended derivative of this effort. On the other, I found Paracelsus to be something less than a significant character in this evolutionary process. The subsequent challenges to the primitive and brutal medical practices of antiquity carried out under his banner seem expunged of his irrational ranting and alchemical nonsense. I don't believe, for example, that a procedure for incubating horse manure with human blood and sperm while supplicating the spiritus mundi to create life while in a drunken stupor was a powerful prescience to in vitro laboratory experimentation or modern biochemistry. It is more a case that if you throw enough at a wall, something is bound to stick. Yet, we know the early founders of science who discovered the laws of nature we understand today operated within this same cloud of mysticism. That's what makes their achievements all the more impressive.



5. The world that Paracelsus knew is thankfully long gone. In its place is a world that takes its lead from modern science which is based largely on experience, experiment, criticism and empiricism and science itself moves forward upon the basis of the scientific method. But it was not always like that and this book does a remarkably good job of trying to bring to life a time in the late middle ages that modern science has forgotten, or perhaps more accurately, would like to forget.
   
   Modern science has its roots in ancient Greek philosophy, 4th century writings, Roman theories, natural magic, Christian theology, astrology, folk tales, alchemy and all manner of mediaeval claptrap and mumbo-jumbo that mostly would have us in hysterics today. When Paracelsus was alive though it was believed and largely taken as true. To stand up and say such and such was not true, or worse still to write it down and publish it was not generally taken as excepted modes of behaviour. In fact it would often put your well being in jeopardy as Paracelsus found out all too often. Rather confirming what was already understood underpinned the thinking of the time. Modern science emerged over several centuries from this mishmash and Ball manages to give a real flavour of what Paracelsus must have encountered. This is a book that should be enjoyed as much as it informs.
   
   Paracelsus himself was a remarkable character of contradictions who can best be described as a failure. Paracelsus' writings are not particularly important either to the history of medicine or to science but it is the spirit in which they were written, the rants as well as the more lucid bits. It is not hard to see Paracelsus as a Till Eulenspeigel type figure or even as a Pierrot, and a good deal of this comes over in Ball's portrait. But it was as a failure who managed to ignite in those who came after him the wish to enquire and not be put off by those who would suppress enquiry that Paracelsus deserves to be remembered.
   
   The life and work of Paracelsus could be written and appraised in a book one quarter the size of this, but that is not what makes this book worth the effort. The background to modern science is in short supply and it is worth getting to know more about it. In the process you will realise that our modern comforts should not be taken for granted and it is not hard to find areas of the world even today some things are not much further advanced than those encountered in this book.
   
   A good read on what could be a difficult subject.