Customer Reviews

The Work of Human Hands

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I went in search of this out-of-print book after seeing a biography about Dr. Hendren on our local "Chronicle" television program. This is a stimulating and thought-provoking book for those interested in the "art" of surgery, particularly pediatric surgery, as well as the medical profession. Dr. Hendren is a generous philanthropist, sharing his medical talent with children facing medical challenges around the world. It is a fair and balanced portrait of one surgeon's life at the outstanding Children's Hospital in Boston.

This book has a real sentimental value to me because Dr. Hardy Hendren is my doctor. I had a kidney condition when I was born and the hospital I was at did not know was what wrong with me but when my parents brought me to the Boston Children's Hospital where Dr. Henden works at, he knew what to do and preformed my surgery. The book is brilliant because of the man it is about.

It's not easy to find words adequate to do this book justice. It's primarily the biography of Dr. Hardy Hendren, recently retired chief of surgery at Children's Hospital in Boston. Dr. Hendren has performed operations that seem to be nothing short of miraculous. The book is a tribute to his indomitable spirit, and an inspiration to anyone looking for examples of what a man can accomplish when he puts his mind to it. I don't throw words such as "towering" or "genius" around lightly, but even those words seem inadequate when applied to Dr. Hendren. Read the book, and be inspired.

I agree with an earlier reviewer that the book seems to get side-tracked occasionally with descriptions of other surgeons at Children's Hospital. However, I found this a microscopic negative compared to the overall value of the book. Hence the five stars.

"The Work of Human Hands" is an excellent story detailing the work of Doctor Hardy Hendron - a fantastic human being - This story is impossible to read without gaining a heightened sense of what is truly important. I am also a writer and I have suffered a dire family emergency that has a happy ending - I am detailing the work of the terrific surgeons at The Children's Hospital of Buffalo, New York and I can only hope to do as terrific a job as G. Wayne Miller did.

I highly recommend this book which tells the story of Dr Hendern,American child surgery and Boston Children Hospital. It is very well written and beautifully describes one of the hardest working men in the US.Mr Miller deserves a medal for a job well done .

This excellent book will have you stunned at the awful problems that can happen and amazed at the incredible talents of surgeons like Dr. Hendren to correct them. Miller does a great job of guiding you through the procedures, the doctor's grueling schedule and operations and the emotions involved. I couldn't put it down and have never forgot it.

Surgeons who inovate are entrepreneurs, taking chances and energized by being at the cutting edge. Miller has all of that and gets the surgery right too, down to details about the instruments. Like Tracy Kidder and Richard Rhodes he deploys the skills of a novelist to bring top Boston hospitals and a man's life to his readers.

the author tries to do too much in this one book. On the one hand it is about a plastic surgeon who specializes in pediatric congenital anomalies. The biographical information with details about some of his cases is excellent. However, the author takes on too much by making it a book about Children's Hospital also, including cases that have nothing to do with the featured surgeon. I enjoyed it but it could have been better organized into two books.