Customer Reviews

Kitchen Table Wisdom 10th Anniversary

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Anyone who reads Kitchen Table Wisdom will be touched and inspired by the learning processes of the patients and the life lessons which they teach us through their experiences. The stories are life-affirming and will validate your own experiences in a way that is frequently unavailable in our present social context.
This is a MUST READ for anyone who is a "health-care professional." The wisdom and compassion learned from a lifetime of being both a doctor and a healer is beautifully and articulately expressed in this book. It could easily be described as an ethical will.

Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal
I was given a copy of this book by a colleague many years ago. I only recently read it for the first time, and I now realize what a wonderful gift I received. I know I will reread this book and refer to it many times. The subtitle explains it: "Stories That Heal." I cannot imagine that anyone reading this book thoughtfully would not be deeply rewarded for the time spent. I very rarely have read something that I would recommend to EVERYBODY, but this is one book I WILL recommend to everybody. Epiphany, anyone? File under "Guide for Living Well."

This is one of my all time favorite books. Since receiving a copy as a gift about ten years ago, I have purchased more than half a dozen to give as gifts. As I explained to a grieving friend, this book does not grab you and dazzle you, it just sneaks up quietly and gives you a very comforting hug. Obviously, it has staying power. I leave my copy out and will randomly read a chapter since I find it enlightening and inspiring. Oh, that all doctors had Dr. Remen's insight and sensitivity! I feel I know her, and I do truly love her. Like all really great books, it seems to develop more depth as time goes by and I mature.

This isn't your everyday sappy inspirational story book. The vingettes are real and heartwarming. I have worked with cancer patients who have told me that this book offers more than just inspiration; it offers attitude alternatives. The stories and anecdotes in the book show how people in all walks of life from all backgrounds and of all ages, colors, and races deal with the cards they are dealt.

Although this book is not intended as a substitute for therapy or mental health counseling, it does afford the reader a thoughtful, common sense approach for dealing with life's difficulties. It's almost like sitting around the kitchen table with trusted family and long-time friends and trading stories which hold courage and perserverence at their core. I recommend this book to patients and clients (and their families) who face mental, emotional, or physical adversities. I believe that this is the best book of its kind on the market.


Cherie Renfrow Starry
Private Practice Counselor/Therapist

I was drawn to this book after listening to an interview with Dr. Remen from the "Speaking of Faith" series on National Public Radio. I could tell from the interview that I was listening to a wise and compassionate person who was speaking from a deep well of experience about the real needs of patients, families, and those involved in health care delivery.

Remen is a Professor of Medicine at the University of California-San Francisco and a chronic sufferer from Crohn's disease, an often debilitating illness. This volume is a collection of brief stories from her own experiences as well as the lives of hundreds of patients she has counseled. Remen has been something of a medical reformer and pioneer as she turned toward the emotional and spiritual needs of cancer patients she was counseling.

Typical of the moving stories in this book is the selection about a man with cancer named Dieter. Convinced that his chemo was no longer working, Dieter told his doctor he wanted to stop the treatments but to continue his appointments just to talk. His doctor pushed him away, saying that if he discontinued treatments, there was nothing more he could do for him. Dieter told his cancer support group, "My doctor's love is as important to me as his chemotherapy, but he does not know." Ironically, Remen discloses in this story that Deiter's doctor was one of her counseling clients, although neither Deiter nor his doctor knew that, and she could not disclose it. The doctor was depressed and isolated, complaining that he was just another white coat and that no one cared for him. Sadly, neither doctor nor patient could receive healing from each other.

Remen's mission has been to base health care relationships on the whole person. This requires new forms of medical education which she has developed. Remem herself has said that she had to "unlearn" much of her own medical training--with its emphasis on detached clinical professionalism--in order to be someone who not just cures but heals. This collection of stories reveals much of the fruit of this struggle. All of us will benefit from knowing that true healing occurs when who we really are shows up.

I heard Dr. Remen interviewed on NPR and knew I had to purchase the book. Her manner was so calm and full of wisdom. Although the book deals with life threatening illnesses and end of life issues for the patient and how medical caregivers respond, it was very healing to me
as a widow whose husband died of cancer. It was so gratifying to hear
how Dr. Remen, as a patient and a medical professional, has affected the process by which people in the medical field have returned to a more caring expression when dealing with patients.

Our family found that the caregivers, from volunteers, CNAs, Hemotology, Imaging & Respitory therapists, transportation people, Nurses to Doctors on the oncology ward of Welmont Holston Valley Hospital in Kingsport were all so caring to my husband and everyone of us!

Thank you, Dr. Remen for your work and this book. It is one I will keep in my library for rereading and recommend to many people. Good grief is hard work and your work is a great resource!

Guerry McConnell

I love this book. Be sure to read the stories in order, the book 'unfolds'. It is lovely to read, changed my life!

If you don't want to change - don't bother with this book. But, if you are a seeker, if you have the courage for your "journey" and want to connect more deeply to Life and those you care about, then this book is for you.

I bought a case and gave them to every weary heart I loved, kept it by my nightstand (the true test of a good book), and feel it offers the insights of a bible. Every ounce of me recommends this book.

An acquaintance shared this book with me when she heard I was a three-week cancer survivor. A cancer survivor herself, she said someone had share it with her and it was extremely helpful. It took me a month to get the courage to read the book. I feared it would be full of descriptive stories of cancerous lesions and painful treatments. Boy, was I wrong! This book is the most inspirational book about survival, period. I have given away already ten books and plan to order ten more. You do not need to suffer from any illness to receive the most healing light of love, compassion, and humanity from Rachel Remen. Everyone needs to read this book!

This is one of the most incrediblely healing books you will ever read. You will find yourself refering to it and giving it to friends (like I did) because it is so theraputic. A must read if you are a self-aware person.