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Richard Selzer (1928–2016)

Auteur de Mortal Lessons: Notes on the Art of Surgery

17+ oeuvres 770 utilisateurs 5 critiques 2 Favoris

A propos de l'auteur

Allen Richard Selzer was born in Troy, New York on June 24, 1928. He graduated from Union College in 1948 and Albany Medical College in 1953. After an internship at Yale, he was drafted into the Army and served as a lieutenant in Korea from 1955 to 1957. He finished his surgical residency at Yale afficher plus in 1957 and practiced until 1985, when he left his surgical career to write full time. He wrote horror stories that were published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. His short stories included A Question of Mercy, Imelda, and Whither Thou Goest. His books included The Doctor Stories, Mortal Lessons: Notes on the Art of Surgery, Confessions of a Knife, Rituals of Surgery, and Letters to a Young Doctor. He died on June 15, 2016 at the age of 87. (Bowker Author Biography) afficher moins

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Œuvres de Richard Selzer

Oeuvres associées

The Art of the Personal Essay (1994) — Contributeur — 1,370 exemplaires
Modern American Memoirs (1995) — Contributeur — 189 exemplaires
The Best American Essays 1988 (1988) — Contributeur — 97 exemplaires
The Grim Reader: Writings on Death, Dying, and Living On (1997) — Contributeur — 60 exemplaires
Summer: A Spiritual Biography of the Season (2005) — Contributeur — 37 exemplaires
Antaeus No. 29, Spring 1978 — Contributeur — 2 exemplaires

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A surgeon waxing eloquent on the craft and skill of his occupation. He talks about disease in the most interesting way, describes opening the body and moving into its depths to find ailments and organs as if navigating a landscape. It's not a book of case studies, more a selection of snapshots that show how the surgeon felt about his work, reflections on the meaning of it, looking at how his patients responded to treatment. Or didn't. It is surprisingly, baldly honest- describing in detail many things that are hard to face- an abortion, an amputation, an explorative surgery that goes wrong, the process of embalming or autopsy. I've read a few books about medicine, hospital work, and the like, but never with things described the way they are here.

It's also an old book, and of course outdated in lots of things. Much of it admitting no understanding, no hope for cure, or putting forth mistaken ideas. I was surprised and kind of annoyed that he goes on and on in one chapter about how horrible alcohol is for the liver- and yet spends another chapter extolling his own smoking habit. It's illustrated here and there with woodcuts, engravings and lithographs from the Yale Medical Library- they're not dated but give the work a feeling of more antiquity... The last part of it digresses from the main subject matter. Some short writings describing his childhood, his father's practice. There's an essay on being carsick- something he suffered a lot from as a child- and another rather weird one about birdwatching (which he apparently was not very good at).

And yet for all its flaws, the book was a thing I wondered at. It made me see the inner workings of the body in such a different way. Its words are so vivid, so alive.

from the Dogear Diary
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Signalé
jeane | 1 autre critique | Mar 29, 2016 |
If I ever need surgery, I want someone like Richard Seltzer to be my surgeon. His essays reflect a real concern for patients as human beings, and an impulse toward kindness over judgments about a person's looks or class. These are also wonderfully written, witty and allusive essays, reflections really.
 
Signalé
nmele | Apr 6, 2013 |
Not easy to stay interested but he does portray Troy aptly for that era.
½
 
Signalé
jamespurcell | 1 autre critique | Mar 9, 2012 |
I really appreciated the mentions of Troy and surrounding areas, having grown up close by and gone to RPI for college. I also enjoyed the memoir aspect of this book. But it was really too poetic and lyrical and meandering for me. Great book, but just not my style.
½
 
Signalé
lemontwist | 1 autre critique | Sep 7, 2011 |

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Œuvres
17
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Membres
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Popularité
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Évaluation
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ISBN
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