Customer Reviews

Delivering Doctor Amelia: The Story of a Gifted Young Obstetrician's Error and the Psychologist Who Helped Her

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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I saw the Library Journal starred review that compared the Shapiro to Oliver Sacks (my favorite writer) and decided to pick up Delivering Doctor Amelia, what a great read! The book is structured around roughly 30 therapy sessions between an eloquent psychologist (the writer) and his patient, whom he describes as a gifted obstetrician. At first the obstetrician won't say why she's come into treatment and as her story unfolds and the stakes go up you can't help but get sucked in. In my case, I read it over three nights and ended up sleepless. This book takes you inside the minds of a psychologist and a physician and shows how they talk and think when no one else is around.

I hate when people ruin stories so I won't give away the ending, but I will say that the book pays off -- I cried at the end.

If you are a fan of the narrative non-fiction genre, you will love this book. The author does a wonderful job of telling Dr. Amelia's story through his sessions with her, but also relates it to his own experiences of being a patient himself. It's hard not to be drawn to Dr. Amelia's character - and identify with her and what she's going through. Beautifully written, Dan Shapiro tells this story in a way that's clever and humorous, and has you captivated from the start.

This is such a wonderful read on so many levels. The title is a perfect play on words, considering the doctor's specialty. The actual story of the gifted ob's misjudgement is fascinating. The account of the therapy which restored her ability to function professionally is equally fascinating. It is tremendously life-affirming to see the humanity of the doctor. Realizing how deeply she cares makes me appreciate my professional colleagues even more. Too often in today's healthcare environment we see people focused on billing and it is easy to lose sight of the sincere desire to help and do good which draws people to the practice of medicine. This book should be required reading for every medical school and residency program.

I happened upon this book while looking for some new reading material and I wasn't disappointed. Shapiro is a psychiatrist whose practice has evolved into treating other physicians. This book focuses on one of his patients, a highly succesful and beloved OB/GYN who loves her career.

However, as Shapiro's work shows, all it takes is one bad outcome to shake a physician to their core and turn their life upside down. This should be required reading for anyone associated with the healthcare feild as it shows how insidious our litigious society is for the Doctor's who devote their lives to caring for us. This book really opened my eyes to how slippery the slope of malpractice is and how it harms both parties as they are drug through a maze of litigaiton by their lawyers.

This book is accessible for both the physician and the lay person.
Highly recommended.

I recently attended the 2010 APHON conference in Minneapolis, MN. Dan Shapiro did the clsoing talk and was so energiszing that I had to get this book as well as Mom's Marijuana. He examines and descrbies his feelings and 'flashbacks from his own experience as a patient' as he tries to help a young doctor 'get her life back'. One feels like one is actually there as one reads the book. Very hard to put down once you start!

I had read the author's previous book "Mom's Marijuana" because I had seen him at a cancer survivor's conference in Seattle and I loved his humor. This book wasn't really anything about his journey with cancer although it did come up briefly. It was so meaningful to me because it talks about the patient provider bond and how people can grow and change within a relationship. And in this case both grew. What a touching book!

but I remember it quite well. I read it very fast..and I did a lot of reflecting along the way. It was written in a very comfortable style. I do remember that I thought it was an excellent book.

Put the keys in the ignition and take this book for a ride. As you watch where you're heading, Dan paints a breath-taking portrait of the landscape. Like Mom's Marijuana, the focus is a patient's struggle through devastating illness, but this time Dan is the caregiver rather than patient. It's compelling. Once again, I only stopped reading when I was overwhelmed by sleep in the not so wee hours of the morning. You'll laugh and cry, and grow.