Letters to a Young Doctor (Harvest Book) [Paperback]

Richard Selzer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0156003996 | ISBN-13: 978-0156003995 | Publication Date: April 15, 1996

Highly candid, insightful, and unexpectedly humorous essays on both the brutality and the beauty of the profession in which saving and losing lives is all in a day’s work. A timeless collection by the “best of the writing surgeons” (Chicago Tribune). With a Preface written by the Author especially for this edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Richard Selzer is a former surgeon and Yale School of Medicine professor. He has received many awards for his writing, including a National Magazine Award, a Pushcart Prize, and a Guggenheim fellowship. He is the author of several collections of stories and essays as well as a memoir. He lives in New Haven, Connecticut.
 

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (April 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156003996
• ISBN-13: 978-0156003995
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #275,215 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good but not great. Score: 7, May 27, 1999

By 

David Graham (Shell, Ecuador) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Letters to a Young Doctor (Harvest Book) (Paperback)

Under the old Amazon.com ranking system, I would give this book a seven on a ten point scale. As a fellow surgeon who enjoys Selzer's writings, I thought this was a good, yet not great collection of ruminations. Some of the chapters were quite touching, some were funny, and some were quite plain. A few actually suffered from Selzer's exuberant imagination as he tried to stuff meaning and metaphor into patients' stories that didn't fit. Taking it all together, I'm glad I bought it, but I liked his book Mortal Lessons much better.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Notes from a veteran doctor's perspective, excellent writing, December 26, 2001

By 

atmj (Rochester, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Letters to a Young Doctor (Harvest Book) (Paperback)

Having read Doctor's stories first, I was prepared for Richard Selzer's excellent writing. This book must be the origin of some of the stories that wound up in Doctor Stories (Imelda, Impostor, Chatterbox)

MOSTLY THE LIFE OF A DOCTOR IN PRACTICE OF SURGERY (70% OF BOOK)
Unlike Doctor Stories which have a wider range of stories, this book except for a couple of sidelines is about the craft of the Doctor, in and out of the Operating room and Hospital. Also, the doctor's perspective on the outside world. However, I wonder how many other doctors have his sense of service. Some of us can't imagine a high-priced surgeon performing the service he does in "Toe nails" one of the stories within.

DETAILS AND THE EMOTIONS AROUND THEM, FILL THIS BOOK:
Richard Selzer writing is poetic in his description of a doctor's musings on the Art of Surgery, the halls of the hospitals and the feel of working inside the human body. In many sense his reflections on his relationships with the tools he uses could the same a mechanic, a draftsman (of the 50s-80s), or the artist feels about the tools they use to perform their craft.

POETIC DETAILS ON EVEN THE MOST ORDINARY SITUATION:
He finds beauty in the minute details of life and has the gift to write about them. I also have his book "Mortal Lessons" that I hope to read soon as well. His books are addicting in the sense that you too also begin, if you don't already, to see the details of your own work and the relationships you have with the world around you. Either I think similarly or his thought process is universal, but he captures the magic of living and the impressions we all have at time. Even if you are not a doctor (and I'm not), you will find a sense of familiarity in his writing.

MEDICINE MAY BE WHAT HAS FINE-TUNED HIS SENSES:
Medicine however, has a draw that few other crafts do. It is the mystery of our own plumbing. It also has the human element of relationships and drama within it as well. The author does well to capture the patient's relationship with the physician. Richard Selzer does well to capture the detached relationship; a physician has with the body but not the soul of the patients, he treats. When he acknowledges the person within the body the relationship broadens and he as a physician has opened himself up to the pain as well. He does this from time to time.

ZEN-LIKE IN THOUGHT:
I found this book very Zen-like in its concentration of detail. If Richard Selzer decides to write a book like "Sweeping Changes" a book on Zen philosophy on cleaning, but except on the art of living, he would be well-qualified. He makes holy what many take to be ordinary. Bravo.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Selzer prepares medical hopefuls for the art of surgery., January 10, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Waldorf, Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Letters to a Young Doctor (Harvest Book) (Paperback)

Richard Selzer prepares those with an interest in surgery, specifically medical hopefuls, for the science of medicine through personal experiences that are shared with the reader in Letters to a Young Doctor. He shows that surgery, or being a doctor on a whole can have its days of redemption and it's times of tragedy. Selzer uses emotions to create an emotional bond between the reader, the writer, and the patients. Personal testimony of specific examples, tied in with metaphors, comparisons, and imagery, prepare the reader for what he/she must face in the future as a particepent in the field of medicine. The book is organized into 23 different stories and experiences used by Selzer to prepare medical students with what they will encounter as doctors/surgeons. This also includes 5 letters written specifically to the students of surgery in first person viewpoint. These divided sections of the book hold the same ideas, but are presented in different a manner each. One part might discuss the impact being a doctor may have on society. Another might focus on the aspects in specific, such as the respect one must hold for the tools used in surgery. But all these parts create a whole idea, that being a doctor has its success by in accompanied by the horrors. And this prepares medical students for the life of a surgeon. That is the beauty of Selzer's work. In preparing the young medical world for the future of which they wish to experience as doctors, Richard Selzer pushes the dismay and prosperity of surgery and being a doctor, a healer, into the light. He shares through personal experiences the emotions felt day to day. Selzer uses comparisons to support the specific examples and imagery to support the comparisons. He is thorough in his work and leaves an impression on his audience, the medical hopefuls of the world. The impact he has creates an effect that, in turn, touches everyone.