Raising the Dead: A Doctor's Encounter with His Own Mortality [Paperback]

Richard Selzer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1995

In 1991, Dr. Richard Selzer contracted Legionnaire's disease, lapsed into a coma, and began a painful journey to a place where there was "more than a hint of death." This book recounts that mysterious, dramatic journey--a trip to the underworld of disease, a place where death is constantly close.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The former surgeon recalls his own near-death experience after being diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease and lapsing into a coma.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Selzer was a surgeon at the Yale School of Medicine before he turned full time to writing. His books have been well received, in particular his essay on the art of surgery, Mortal Lessons ( LJ 12/1/76), and his memoir, Down from Troy ( LJ 6/15/92). However, this new book will not help his reputation. Selzer here describes his bout with Legionnaires' disease: 23 days in a coma, being declared dead, and subsequent recovery. He does not describe his feelings in any detail except to recite his dreams. He even "cites" his medical chart to describe what happened but at the end says that he made up his chart. After completing this book, the only impression this reviewer was left with was, "Why did I read this?" There is nothing to help patients in similar circumstances; nor are there any of the insights into health and medicine that Selzer is known for. Not recommended.
- Eric D. Albright, Galter Health Sciences Lib., Northwestern Univ., Chicago
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (August 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140234896
• ISBN-13: 978-0140234893
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,173,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterly Journey Into the Underworld, June 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Raising the Dead: A Doctor's Encounter with His Own Mortality (Paperback)

I was moved to tears and laughter. Two extremes which both brought comfort on this journey across the River of Death. Selzer takes the helm as Charon, the ferryman, and relays a superb tale of one man's travels into the Realm of Shades, what that man saw there, how those things affected him and what he brought back. That man was the author himself, telling the difficult story of his own 23 days of coma and three weeks of recovery. A brutal and poignant honesty is achieved through metaphor and imagery the like of which literally took my breath away several times. Selzer is a brilliant writer, a deep thinker and a philosopher for these modern times. In his intense need to chronicle his very intimate and personal experience of illness he decides against "going towards the light" and instead chooses to stage his own death and descend into a place of poetic vision and metaphorical insight. His version of the events are so beautifully rendered and when he is urged to forget all about his coma and the ravages incurred by his body he thinks "But they are mistaken who would squelch the longing to know. Man's greatest pleasure is remembering. It's what makes us godlike, distinguiishes us from the animals. Remembering is a way of reclaiming what was mine, what had been taken away from me."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not one of Richard Selzer's best works, but good, January 15, 2002

By 

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

This review is from: Raising the Dead: A Doctor's Encounter with His Own Mortality (Hardcover)

This is a wandering book of author Dr. Richard Selzer's own brush with death. His excellent writing shines in bits and pieces but on a whole this book is too vague and stilted for my preferences.

A WANDERING STORY
This vague and wandering story may very well have been a creation to illustrate the odd state of mind Dr. Selzer found himself in once he woke from his coma and 10 minute death episode. He at times thought he was in a monastery, on the Nile and in other exotic locales. At any point in time, also thinking that the nursing staff were conspiring to keep him from his freedom.

HIS SIDELINE STORY OF A FAMOUS AUTHOR'S BRUSH WITH BREAST REMOVAL SURGERY, PRIOR TO ANESTHESIA MAKES FOR TERRIFYING READING
Some reviewers suggested this was an artifice added to increase the page count. I'll be honest, this was an excellent portion of the book preparing the reader to realize that writing about your own illness is bound to portray you as a victim or a hero. Nothing in between. It is interesting that Dr. Selzer included this and adds to the book. I'm also happy to have been born after the use of anesthesia.

TOO MANY SHIFTS TO KEEP MY INTEREST
He does an excellent job of describing himself in the 3rd person, however, the switches of storyline from paragraph to paragraph, I found hard to keep my interest. Sometimes a artistic device gets in the way of the story. I found his forays into his imaginary worlds a bit to artful at time. It is one thing to be literary, it is another to outreach most of your audience. Either that or I'm not too bright. Both are possible.

HAS RICHARD SELZER'S SIGNATURE EXCELLENT CAPTURE OF DETAIL:
As usual each section is excellent in its attention to detail. (I don't think I will ever look at tulips the same). Also, he gives you a feel for the wandering mind grasping to make sense of all that has happened. He pieces together odd sections of facts and changes a broken pot into a horse in his reconstruction of events. These perceptions alone can make for an odd reality.

CAREGIVERS WERE WELL CHARACTERIZED AND WELL AFTER THE FACT APPRECIATED
His portrait of his caregivers is well done from the nurse from Troy to the lyrical Irishman that tended to him. He also portrays himself (Accurately I'm sure) as the crabby patient he was. Doctors make the worse patients.

An interesting book.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Other physician writers surpass Selzer, August 22, 2001

By 

Matthew J. Lambert "Writer" (River Forest, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Raising the Dead: A Doctor's Encounter with His Own Mortality (Paperback)

As a physician, I am always interested how my colleagues portray the various aspects of our profession. I believe the lay public is also fascinated by physician-authors in the hope that they will pull back the curtain and let us in on the secrets of medicine. I have read most of Selzer's works and found them disappointing, for the most part. This holds true for Raising the Dead. Selzer frequently overwrites and I would characterize his prose as florid. One senses that he enjoys talking about himself more than medicine or its effect on others. I find the works of Sherwin Nuland, Lewis Thomas, and the non-fiction works of Michael Crichton much more realistic, satisfying and written by physicians who have less to say about themselves and more about medicine-how it is and how it should be.