Customer Reviews

Seeds for All Seasons

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When I read in our alumni journal Alan Gazzaniga had published a novel, I thought, "Man, I have to read this one!!! The day the book arrived, I glanced at it, read the last page and put it down. That evening I began reading and could not put it down until 2:30 am the next morning.
Gazzaniga's book is fast paced. The plot holds the reader's interest throughout the story. The characters are varied and well developed. What I appreciated most was the insight provided into hospital politics, the ethics (or lack of) in fertility practice, and the making of a physician in our modern medical delivery system. I think this novel is very good, especially for a first effort.

If you enjoy reading books by professionals based on their own experiences, you will enjoy this first novel by a foremost medical surgeon, Alan Gazzaniga. Having years of in-hospital experience as a surgeon, Dr. Gazzaniga has written a compelling story about a young medical student who donated "for research purposes only" to a sperm bank run by a famous fertility doctor. Years later, the young medical student, now a well-known brain surgeon, suspects that his sperm was not just used for research and that he might have inadvertently fathered one or more children. The drama increases as it is slowly revealed that the surgeon/donor fathered the child of a notorious person who is unaware that he is not the biological father. Read this intensely interesting novel to find out how it all unfolds. The book also contains insights into the political world of a large, big city hospital and all the maneuvering that some physicians go through to gain power and prestiage.

The first word in this work is "As", the last word being "seclusion". Should you think you have experienced the whole story short of reading everything in between, you will have missed the wizardry of this undertaking. Fiction is generally not on my top ten list of things to read on any kind of day. However this saga peppers you with tidbits and tantalizing twists throughout which make it captivating and interesting. As interesting as it may be it is lacking that one magic touch which would set it above the pack. That "magic touch" comes when you finish the word "seclusion".