Customer Reviews

True Emergency Room Stories

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I think Pezzi wrote most of the positive reviews himself. They all seem to have the same tone and few of them are at all balanced. After spending some time looking at his web page and some of his other books (esp. the ones on dieting and penis enlargement) I fear that I will one day find myself injured and lying in his ER.

The book starts out great. It has interesting stories and is interesting reading, HOWEVER, I did not expect or appreciate the advertisements throughout the book for the author's dating service, penis enlargement program, plans for building a shed, and many, many, many more. I might understand it from a free book, but not one that I paid for. I really think the main purpose was not to sell a book, but rather to sell an avenue to advertisements for the plethora of his other products and schemes.

It does have interesting ER stories.

I purchased this book because I stupidly only read the first few reviews by people who bought this book. After reading the first dozen or so pages in this book, I got so disgusted, I decided to stop so I wouldn't contaminate my mind further with the [stuff] that the author rants on about. What I did read gave me the impression that this guy is self congratulatory, feels the more bizarre or disgusting the more entertaining (some of his stories just border on gossip), and that he has too much contempt for his patients. It's just as well he didn't go into a specialty where the patients would actually have to pick him as a physician because he wouldn't be able to make a living and could end up in the lower socio-economic status that he feels so much disgust for. I've purchased books by other authors who have espoused some personal views that I find silly or don't agree with, but managed to get over that and continue to read and enjoy their books because the stories they were telling were interesting and had true entertainment value. But, this book has very little that could make up for the horrible personal opinions expounded by the author...I buried the book deep in a pile of other books so I wouldn't have to even look at it and I thankfully managed to forget about it until recently...At least I know that if I need some fuel for a fire in winter, this book will serve some useful purpose.
In reading all of the reviews, I'm horrified at how many people thought this book was worth more than 1 star. I only hope they aren't in occupations that interact or provide support to the rest of humanity. I personally apologize to the community of readers that feel the same way I do for having mistakenly providing monetary support to a ... person such as this author.

I was anxious to get this book so I downloaded to my Kindle. My daughter has been a Level 1 Trauma/ER Nurse and I have always enjoyed her ER stories. Dr. Pezzi's stories were funny to somewhat funny and I enjoyed reading what he wrote.

HOWEVER, throughout the pages was a lot of advertising for his products and projects. One example was selling his plans for a shed shaped like a light house and another book on "Advanced Enhancement" (a book for "Bob" who we see on tv with the enzyte ads. And there was much more advertising of his products. I do not know if they are in the "tree" book, but they are in the Kindle and I did not appreciate advancing 1 -3 pages to get back to his text/story.

Truth in advertising: Pezzi should have given the above subtitle to his book. I did read the whole thing, and I agree that the stories are good. But they are no better than any others I've read, and along with the tales you have to swallow a LOT of his political opinions, including the gag-inducing one that Laura Schlessinger is a woman of excellent principles, high intelligence, and sound judgment. Since I believe the polar opposite of those statements, I kind of needed an emesis basin handy for his little hymns of praise to the good "doctor." Also, his rants against Medicaid patients got worse and more vindictive as the book went on. I know that many doctors feel this way, and I know why. I also know many people who revere intelligence and have little respect for those who lack it. Hey, I read the Darwin awards web site, too! It's one of the reasons I like E.R. stories. But if I wanted a Republican manifesto, I'd have bought a book by Jerry Falwell, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, or Laura herself (not in this lifetime...). I really feel like I paid for a conservative rant that I didn't want to hear. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who considers him or herself a)liberal, b)a Laura Schlessinger-hater, or c)squeamish! (To be fair, Pezzi warns the squeamish to stay away...just not the rest of us.)

I've been an ER doctor for many years, and one of my hobbies is reading books such as this one which give you an insider's view of the ER. After reading just about every such book, I can tell you that Pezzi gives you the most accurate portrayal of what we ER doctors think and say when we're out of the earshot of patients and we're discussing some of the more unusual things that go on in the ER. Pezzi writes about things that other ER doctors/authors don't have the guts to touch, such as romance with patients and a number of equally shocking revelations. Some people object to how Pezzi depicts patients who come to the ER for silly reasons, but I have to applaud his stance on that issue. The money that is spent on paying for those visits is money that is being diverted away from legitimate uses. The range of stories in this book is amazing. Some are lighthearted and nothing but fun, while others are dead serious and will really make you think. All in all, this is a great book.

As a former ER nurse with 24 yrs hospital experience, I looked forward to reading this book. I was at first sympathetic and then annoyed and finally horrified by Dr Pezzi's ranting against Medicaid and Medicare clients. I was hoping for interesting true life stories, maybe some pathos, maybe some humor. What I read was a spoiled, arrogant diatribe against persons who don't share his lifestyle, values or income. I feel strongly readers looking for true ER stories should look anywhere but at this book.

A few mildly interesting ER stories, but mostly this doc goes on and on about his right-wing politics, his contempt for patients, how ... he is, and what hot babes lust after him. The entire last chapter is devoted to him bragging about what a great guy he is, bragging about donating money to a cause, and patting himself on the back for the little charity work he has done. This entire book is the author's published exercise in self-ego stroking. I regret wasting money on this book.

This is without a doubt the worst book I have read about emergency departments. The author comes across as a jerk and a disgrace to the profession. I don't know which is worse, his writing ability or his outlook on life. His rants about the poor are ugly and embarrasing. We all work under difficult conditions in emergency medicine, it comes with the territory. But if Pezzi wants to view his patients as animals, he ought to go into veterinary medicine. The donkeys would at least feel at home with him. Don't waste your money.

The book contains some interesting stories, but is so full of diatribes against welfare recipients as to become very unpleasant (yes, he says that *not all* welfare recipients are criminals, murderers, scroungers, stupid, etc; but he certainly implies that most are in at least some of these categories, and seems to regard such patients almost as another species). Some of his comments may represent no more than 'letting off steam' by one who is working in a dangerous and stressful environment; but some of it certainly comes across as pushing a right-wing political philosophy quite evangelically. I am particularly concerned about the implication that giving too much help to such people will encourage them to breed and pass on undesirable genes, thus reducing the overall IQ of the population. For nearly 100 years, people in the 'eugenics' movement and those who simply wish to use eugenic arguments to promote their usually right-wing agendas have been using this argument. IQ tests have been around long enough to make it possible to test such predictions empirically, and to see whether the evidence supports the prediction that the average IQ is decreasing. The evidence does not support it. The average IQ of almost all populations that have been tested has been *increasing* significantly during the period where IQ has been measured: a phenomenon known as the Flynn effect. There are many possible interpretations of this phenomenon, and many possible views about exactly how valid IQ tests are. ...There is no such evidence for a genetically based decrease in IQ. It is particularly worrying that such views are being expressed here by a doctor, as this may give the arguments undeserved medical and scientific credibility.