Customer Reviews

Transplant: A Heart Surgeon's Account of the Life-And-Death Dramas of the New Medicine

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The relevant text in this book--which, by the way, is becoming harder and harder to get (could the author be buying up all extant copies to contain the damage?)--says of his kidnapped cats that Frist "treated them as pets for a few days" prior to his "cart[ing] them off to the lab to die." The standard practice among researchers and medical students is to avoid becoming emotionally attached to their lab subjects, and for good reason; it makes the objectivity necessary for scientific work more difficult. Yet Frist, by his own admission, "treated them as pets." The implication is that since no one forced Frist to do this that he got some sort of emotional thrill from killing and cutting up these unfortunate cats and kittens that he kidnapped under false pretenses. There is a word for people like that: sociopath. It's common knowledge that people who abuse and kill animals for thrills often become serial killers later in life. Is this the kind of person we want serving as Senate Majority Leader? Be very afraid.

In this book, Frist admits to adopting homeless animals from Boston shelters and promising to keep them as pets, only to bring them home to vivisect and eventually kill. The fact that he was a medical student is no excuse - he knew it was wrong, not to mention illegal, otherwise he would have no need for secrecy. Didn't he get enough dissection and vivisection in his medical school classes? Apparently not. I don't buy his explanation that the clandestine torture and killing of these animals was done to further his studies - if that were the case, he would have done the experiements IN SCHOOL under the SUPERVISION of a professor. Yes, it's impressive that he was a medical student - he is obviously intelligent. However, the frenzied, repeated torture and killing points of these adopted animals points to an deviant character, pure and simple.

Excellent book. Very informative for anyone who wants to get into the world of transplant medicine, or anyone who is just fascinated by the amazing work these people do.

I'm not sure what is the greater act of stupidity: Nazi-like killing of cats for medical experimentation OR being a public figure and writing about it in your autobiography.

Cat killer enthusiasts will also enjoy the original and artistic film on the subject entitled "Gummo" (...)

This book was the turning point of my life. It was the statement that persuaded me to have a heart transplant. It answered so many of my qestions about the procedure and gave me the insight that the procedure was not really science fiction. Since reading it I have passed the book on to other people facing such a difficult decision.

this book is definately one i'll keep. it talks of accounts with certain patients and gives an in depth look at the art of transplantation. i recommend this book to anyone. its a great read.

This book provided a fascinating insight into the amazing world of transplants. I take my hat of to Dr. Frist and his colleagues for the amazing work they do day in and day out!!

I think too many previous reviewers focused too much on the cat story. Back when Dr. Frist was going to medical school, dogs and cats from shelters were commonly used for a variety of classes in medical school - I do not think we should judge Dr. Frist's actions on today's standards.