ER Confessional (Paperback)

~ Kyle Smith (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

For those of who work in the pit (ER) day in and day out, this book offers both insight and symmetry into what we do for a living, but in reality, the reader will see that this is truly about making some sanity out of our completely dysfunctional world! --Robert B. Simonson, DO, FACEP, Medical Director Physicians Emergency Care Associates, Associate Clinical Professor Department of Emergency Medicine University of Texas Southwestern Medical School

This book gives a glimpse, not only into the world of high pressure and high drama emergency medicine, but also offers a unique personal insight into the solid, down-to-earth, and from-his-heart perspectives of Dr. Smith. This read will invoke every emotion: you will find yourself laughing out loud and also having to fight back tears. It is entertaining from start to finish. --Jeffrey B. Siegel, MD, DABR

This book is not only a fascinating read and intimate look into the emotional lives of both patients and practitioners, it is also extremely relevant for anyone whose life has been or will be touched by trauma and loss. The (existential) task of finding meaning, humor, and sometimes even a sliver of joy in the midst of human suffering, is well-documented in Dr. Smith s wry and insightful work. --Ransdell Hunter, PhD, Consulting Clinical Psychologist

Product Description

If you like E.R., Scrubs, or Grey s Anatomy, you re going to love the hilarious and often touching ER Confessional. Take a look inside what Dr. Smith affectionately refers to as the beloved E.R. With a dry wit and plenty of southern charm, he prescribes a healthy dose of the funniest and most heart-wrenching true-life emergency room experiences to ever come wheeling out of the hospital! Dr. Smith cleverly chronicles twenty years worth of incredible events while interlocking a second story that details the healing process of a lovesick friend. This gurney ride full of twists and turns will have you laughing out loud as Dr. Smith introduces a host of patients with the zaniest afflictions you could ever imagine. But, be prepared to be side-swiped with the emotion and anguish that accompany the realization that no doctor can save every patient.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Brown Books Publishing Group (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933285923
• ISBN-13: 978-1933285924
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,234,071 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tales from the ER put on a human face, October 4, 2007

By	armchairinterviews.com (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

If you like "ER," "Scrubs" or just happen to be studying medicine, this is the book for you. Through 24 anecdotes, Dr. Kyle Smith tells of his experiences while working in the beloved ER. The stories vary from the devastating and the heartbreaking to the touching and the just plain hilarious. Each anecdote is lovingly told with dry wit and humor, and then turned and viewed from a different viewpoint when Kyle uses the lessons he learn at the ER in guiding an old friend of his who suffers from a broken heart.

I've always enjoyed stories that take place at a hospital, and the fact that these anecdotes just happen to be true only makes them better. We're once again shown without a shadow of a doubt that truth is indeed stranger than fiction at times, as Kyle Smith shows us how differently people react to the traumas and surprises of the emergency room. Some of his stories made me appalled at how human beings can treat each others, while others made me sit with tears in my eyes at the tragedy that sometimes, no matter what a doctor does, a person is beyond saving. Yet others made me laugh out loud at the shear madness Kyle experienced-for instance when a girl was asked if she used protection when having sex, and replied that she always had a .38 (pistol) in her bedside table!

The parallels to life outside the hospital and Kyle's heartbroken friend were a bit heavy-handed at times, but as I got further into the book they made more and more sense. Then I could see a natural progression both in the stories and in the way he tackled having his heart broken-and attempting to move on. I still think the book would have worked just as well without that twist, but it didn't seem as obviously tacked-upon as I'd feared in the beginning.

ER Confessional is an intriguing book with poignant tales from all aspects of life. Kyle resisted the temptation of making the characters larger than life, and the result is a collection of stories where you can identify with at least one person in every chapter.

Armchair Interviews says: Human stories that took place at the hospital's ER