5 comments about All Creatures Great and Small/All Things Bright and Beautiful.

1. I received this book as a gift for graduating college with a degree in veterinary technology. It was fascinating to learn about the ways of a country vet so long ago. Some of the things the author writes about, I wouldn't have known without being familiar with veterinary terms, but it's definitely a book anyone could enjoy.
   
   It's helpful that the chapters are their own little stories, because sometimes I don't get a chance to read for weeks at a time, and would've forgotten the details of the plot by then. But starting a new chapter is like starting a new mini-story with the same characters.
   
   I would recommend this book to anyone wanting a good read.



2. Mr. Herriot's journey through life as a veterinary surgeon is a heart-warming tale. As he goes about day to day, he meets some difficult tasks and is challenged by them. He pulls through almost all of them with extreme care towards the animals that are loved by many. He shows compassion while going about the work that many would get sick to their stomach just thinking about it. An awesome story.



3. I have been reading excerpts of 'All Creatures Great and Small' in publications such as 'Reader's Digest' for years and have always enjoyed them. When I came across a hardcover copy of the two combined books on the sale table at the local mall, I bought it. Let me tell you, the excerpts didn't do it justice. James Herriot is a superb writer, combining humor, insights, sadness...the list can go on and on. He writes as if he's sitting right next to you talking directly to you. I caught myself tearing up in some places and belly-laughing in others. I had such a good time reading it that I now own all of his books (except for the children's books).



4. This is a feel-good book - the sort of book that gives you that warm-and-fuzzy-feeling' - the sort of book that convinces you that there is still hope for this sad-world-of-ours. I make it a point to read this book at least once a year.

   James Herriot is successful not because of the beauty of his sentences or the brilliance of his plot, but for the warmth he radiates. He handles the humourous and the poignant with equal ease, and sometimes you wonder why he ever became a vet when he had such a wonderful gift with words. Perhaps it was just as well.

   All Creatures Great and Small is, along with 'Every Living Thing' my favourite of his books. He manages to achieve a perfece balance between simplicity and originality - something so many writers fail to do. If I ever visit England, I know I have just _got_ to see the Yorkshire Dales, if for no other reason than that this was where James Herriot lived and worked.




5. I first read James Herriott's series about 25 years ago, and I've re-read them numerous times since. The paperbacks in my original boxed gift set are falling apart, with missing pages and loose bindings. Now I'm buying them in hardcover to make sure that I have them available to read again and again for the rest of my life and to pass on to my children and grandchildren.

5 comments about All Things Wise and Wonderful.

1. The third book in the series and you know exactly what to expect. Yes, folks, it is every bit as entertaining as the first two, and that's probably all you need to know. But I'll go ahead and mention that he spends some time in the RAF during World War II, which we knew he would as the second book ended. I'll also mention that he and Helen have a baby, which you probably expected. One of the great joys of his writing is discovery, so I'd hate to screw that up with a spoiler, but these two tidbits are on the back cover anyway. Oh, and halfway through it, I predicted an ending in advance, and I only had to read 1000 pages by this guy before that happened. It's still great, great stuff, and you know you'll love it.



2. I read his books as a teen and loved them. Bought the whole set for my grandsons, [teens]. They laughed until they cried. [so did I].



3. If you like animals you will enjoy all James Herriot's books. This is one of a series of delightful books. Reading one will make you want to read the next one. I can read them over and over.



4. I have the complete series of All Creatures Great and Small books now. This was the last one and I loved it as much as I loved the others. He was a fantastic writer and having been born and raised on a farm I can appreciate a lot of what he talks about. I also have his cat and dog stories books and loved them just as much.



5. The books arrived so quickly that I got to take my time
   wrapping the books.

5 comments about Freud: Inventor of the Modern Mind.

1. This is an excellent, objective, and readable evaluation of the work and legacy of Sigmund Freud. Those who put this in the "Freud bashing" category appear not to desire an objective evaluation of Freud as a clinician nor as a scientist: Kramer presents the reader with such in a lively and precise way. He also presents the impact that Freud's ideas had on Western culture, and it is here where the impact of Freud is beyond question. Whether this impact has been for ill or good is open to question, speaking generally or more specifically in psychiatric and psychological science.



2. No, he wasn't. But he was much more an imaginative investigator, something of a literary and romantic writer more than a scientist, not at all what people imagine. Like Marx before him, many of his theories can be refuted but his influence and insight remain valuable. Marx and Freud will remain important critics of traditional society and of the bourgeois order which poorly replaced it. The truths they taught were less literally true than insightfully stimlulating for all time.
   
   Peter Kramer is at once an admirer and a critic of Freud who has, however, a perfect right to be both, but he fails to write a really persuasive apercu of Freud. Kramer knows his Freud and his psychology but he is not firm in historical knowledge. The book does not impress.



3. The "Eminent Lives" series has some great writing and equally good research into some of the most significant people to walk the Earth (with the exception of Armstrong's book on Mohammed).
   Kramer does a good job of taking Freud off the pedestal that many have used to create an altar for an atheist. But by showing Freud to be a mere human, he goes out of his way to point out his opinion that Freud, with all his faults, was "The Inventor of the Modern Mind."
   
   While I don't personally agree with Kramer's evaluation of Freud any more than I did with a lot of his opinions in his "Listening to Prozac" book, this is a book worth reading to get a far better balanced view of a man who was responsible for much of our modern day vocabulary in dealing with our fellow humans.
   
   Freud had a lot of dumb ideas, was a shameless self-promoter, ignored his own research, invented and lied about the complex nature of some of his patients, but at the end of the day, as Kramer points out, was one of the humans to leave the Earth with a net plus on his life ledger. Unfortunately some of his patients paid the price of his opinions with their lives in ruins, but it will be up to your own value system to determine whether this was worth it. After all, many Clinton supporters agree with his view that the lives of a million Tutsi were not worth the life of a single American as he allowed the most intense genocide in the history of mankind in the modern era to occur on his watch. His approval ratings must make him "right."
   
   If you don't want to buy this book and see it in a bookstore, just take five minutes to read the last chapter to see that Kramer holds Freud in high regard using this measuring stick.
   
   This is not a "five-star" book, but i gave it that rating to balance the superficial reviews by Freud groupies who read this book with blinders on, if they read it at all.



4. Kramer purports to be an admirer of Freud, but this is a wholesale dismissal of his work, citing a number of misdiagnosed cases in Freud's later years. Writing in the name of clinical science, Kramer tells us that Freud is in need of radical re-evalutation, since he was unscientific in his approach to human behavior. This is the worst kind of reductionism, ignoring Freud's enormous contribution to the humanities. Modern literary criticism (e.g. the new critics) and poetry, not to mention sociology and anthropology, would be impossible today had not Freud written "The Interpretation of Dreams." Freud is to modern literary and social analysis what Darwin is to biological science. Poets like William Blake and Yeats would be incomprehensible without the analytic techniques and tools provided by Freud, and the great thinker and media analyst, Marshall McLuhan, to name but one distinguished disciple among many, was Freudian through and through.



5. Kramer's lucid writing style is refreshing.This small volume will give the reader a critical review of Freud's major writings. Highlights of Freud's biography add spice to the narrative. Kramer uses our contemporary knowledge in psychiatry to rediagnose some of Freud's patients.I got a deeper understanding of some of the famous cases like Anna O,Dora, the Wolf Man the Rat Man. Like many, Kramer agrees that Freuds impact on the development of the field of psychotherapy and psychological thinking have been hugh. Freud was not perfect.This book help highlight the imperfections. More than that,it helps clarify in a short space, work that took Freud years and years to develop and 23 volumes of the Standard edition to Express.Like Freud,Kramer is a very talented writer as this and his other four volumes show.

4 comments about Bag Balm and Duct Tape: Tales of a Vermont Doctor.

1. I also expected a Herriott-like tale of the flatland doctor encountering the crusty characters of Vermont, as he slowly learns about them and their quaint customs and eventually becomes a Vermonter himself. The book violated this expectation, and perhaps in a good way, because those kinds of books often have humor that is too gentle and plot that is nonexistent. Although the book does discuss his patients and the geography and economics of Vermont, through semi-fictional characters, it is more of a commentary on modern medicine and the doctor's place in it. Dr. Beach is severely self-deprecating about himself and the doctor's role in curing people, which appears in (presumably fictional) long, humorous speeches he gives to his patients who come to him with problems. Although the status of his patients as Vermonters does come up, it is rather less the focus of the book than one might expect.
   
   The book is a kind of mish-mash of doctoring, observation of human nature, commentary on medicine and its inability to do most things, and a history of one corner of Vermont. It was a pleasant read for me while I was on vacation in Vermont, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a light, humorous (but not hilarious) read. My only reservation was that some of the monologues he engages in with patients would be in rather poor taste if they had actually taken place in real life (especially the conversation with his terminally ill patient). I don't suspect him of actually talking to his dying patients that way, but the event was a little disturbing even in fiction.
   
   But overall, a pleasant book by a doctor who refuses to take himself seriously.



2. Truly enjoyed this book. As a Nurse and a Vermonter I found this book to be so true of the Vermont I know and our blessed health care providers. I recommend it to anyone beginning their career in health care.



3. This book had me laughing out loud! signed, a former country do



4. Funny that he should mention James Herriot, which was more or less what I was hoping for. Despite a few interesting parts and parts that rang true (I'm also a doc) my overall impression was one of bordom. The book didn't have much substance or deep meaning. Sort of a vague diary which was not of general interest. (With an apology to the author's mother, whose opinion he keeps dredging up.....)

2 comments about Patient by Patient: Lessons in Love, Loss, Hope, and Healing from a Doctor's Practice.

1. I loved this book! Dr. Transue has a remarkable talent for expressing and integrating her own and her patients' life experiences. I am a 62 year old woman in pastoral ministry and I would use this book as a text for a class in caregiving. The author's ability to listen actively and respond compassionately is better expressed in this book than in many texts designed specifically for that purpose. In addition, Dr. Transue illustrates how she dealt with significant personal experiences in a way that allowed her not to lapse into martydom or exhaustion but rather to use what she learned in life to minister more tenderly to herself, her family and her patients. I read it in one sitting and then read it again.



2. Having read Dr. Transue's first book I had really hight expectations for this book..Possible too high. I stopped reading at around page 170. Too much personal info on her life. I was looking for more stories of what she has faced in practice.

3 comments about Medic!: How I Fought World War II with Morphine, Sulfa, and Iodine Swabs.

1. "Medic!", by Robert "Doc Joe" Franklin. Subtitled: "How I Fought World War II With Morphine, Sulfa And Iodine Swabs". University of Nebraska Press, 2006.
   
   When Robert Franklin was officially drafted into the United States Army, he had already given up his room and quit his job at the Associated Press. He was afraid that he would flunk the Army medical and then have no place to go. At the age of twenty-five, he entered the Army in Los Angeles and was assigned to the medical unit of the 28th Infantry Division, where he received virtually no training in being a medic. On page 4, Franklin states that he learned his "...job as a medic through on-the-job training". The remainder of the book is just as blunt, concise and clear. For example, on page 33, the author relates that a
   "... friendly Sicilian had warned them that a small bridge was mined, but the lead officer scoffed and led his men across. It was mined."
   This kind of understatement flows throughout the book. Another example: on page 129, Franklin was being awarded the Silver Star by General Alexander M. Patch. General Patch stood on a wooden platform while Medic Franklin stood in the mud. This was all captured in a photo published in an LA newspaper in 1944.
   
   His writing continues in this understated pace, from Sicily to Anzio to Salerno, and, each time he helps a wounded solider down from the front, the author records that departure with the words, "...and I never saw him again". (See, for example, page 124.) There were far too many descriptions of wounded men that ended with the term, "...and I never saw him again".
   
   There is a final two paged summary, where he describes his life after the war, his marriage to his beloved, Betty, and how she died on April 27, 2001 at 4:10 in the afternoon. He ends the book with the notice that his doctors gave him another year or two ...to which he replied, "That doesn't bother me. I've never been afraid to die, and at eighty-eight, I've lived long enough".



2. I enjoyed this book. However, I wished Mr. Franklin had been able to spend more time writing about his experiences after the Italian Campaign, though it is understandable since his wartime diary ended at that point.
   
   Two other excellent books on this subject, but not written by former Medics are Ross Carter's "Those Devils in Baggy Pants" about his service the 82nd ABN and Farley Mowat's "And No Birds Sang" about his service in Canadian Army in Italy. Mr. Franklin's book is very close to the caliber of these two classic works, and I highly recommend it.



3. The author saw WW2 action from Italy, through France, and into Germany. He was lucky: he was not killed, unlike many around him. In a narrative that reminds me of Dragnet ("Just the facts, Ma'am") the author tells the horror of war. Ultimately the book is more grim than fun, but a fast, worthwhile read.

1 comments about Jewish Doctors Meet: The Great Physician.

1. The stories compiled here are authentic and sincere. These are doctors, generously sharing their very personal accounts of how they came to discover, albeit reluctantly, the absolute truth of the love and saving grace of a very Jewish Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.
   
   These stories are written by doctors, not writers. That element alone kept the reading pace clear, quick, and thoroughly interesting.
   
   I am gentile. I learned a great deal about my Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ. Especially the seemingly insurmountable obstacles placed before the Jewish seeker of Biblical Truth; family, tradition, religion, indifference, investment, etc..
   
   I found the input near the end of the book by Ruth Rosen to be fascinating. Her perspective on faith was truly insightful. Her words have helped me articulate what true faith is. Rosen's commentary on Hebrews 11:1 ( A New Testament letter) became revelation for me. I am grateful to her for giving Glory to God by bringing this book to light.
   
   Finally; David Brickner's thoughtful rendition, describing the meeting of a desperate but faithful woman and the Christ, made those scriptures in the Gospel of John so much more relevant and meaningful.
   
   If you are a believer in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit you will be encouraged to fight the good fight of faith. If you are gentile and a seeker of absolute truth, you will find insight into the level of courage and surrender you will face if you are sincere in your attempts to grasp it. If you are Jewish and are being called by the Spirit of God to search, reason, explore, and discover who Jesus is, do not harden your hearts, but seek His face while He can still be found. Read this book. May God bless you right now.

5 comments about Single in Saudi.

1. I was VERY disapointed with this book.
   I expected interesting facts about Saudi Arabia and life there, and all I got was what and when the author smoked and drank, and who she slept with. Even these facts aren't written in an interesting or funny style, more like a list of men and places she went to.
   I'm very sorry that Amazon sells (and even can recommend) such a book.



2. Really great. Took me back to the Kingdom of the 1970s and 1980s before the money got tight and before the Gulf War. It's a different place today, but those of you who were there in those days will enjoy it. When the Kingdom was a place of parties and bed-hopping for any ex-pat who was willing.



3. This book was a self-serving account of one woman's journey to The Kingdom. I was hoping to get more of an account of healthcare and cultural aspects of Saudi. Instead the author (who obviously thinks very highly of herself) goes on and on about how every guy she meets falls in love with her and how she can't resist the temptation to sleep with them. All the men are handsome to her and all of them are "passionate" lovers. By 2/3 of the way into the book, I found it difficult to keep track of who she was sleeping with in whatever chapter I was reading. I found it hilarious how she judged the character Johnnie for her lifestyle when the author had revealed she has little moral fiber of her own.



4. It's a self-published book, first of all. So don't expect ANY copy-editing at all. The prose is poor, the spelling just awful, but the story is kind of entertaining on a superficial level, though I do have to say I find the constant undercurrent of bigotry hard to take. She has no problem going from bed to bed with all these men, using them as much as they're using her, all the while saying bad things about them and their culture. She puts on airs as though she's such a sophisticated jet-setter and it comes off as phony. It's too bad, because somewhere in this mess of a narrative is a good story.



5. I loved "Single in Saudi" in its many perspectives.
   
   At one level it's a sexy romp through high-walled compounds inhabited by some of the world's richest men. At another it's full of sad insights into the degradation thrust on Saudi women by their countrymen.
   
   Genia writes a unique and illuminating book about herself as a blonde, blue-eyed American woman living in Saudi under a veil and obaya, the long, hooded, black robes that Saudi women are required to wear in public.
   
   As Americans we can learn much from "Single," because at some point the American-led coalition will have to decide whether fighting the war, or insurgency, or keeping the peace, or whatever we may be doing in Iraq, is worth expending our blood and treasure for a nation of ingrates and incompetents and worse.
   
   And that decision will in part be based on our view of those who people the nations of the Middle East, including the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a regime of hypocrites that Genia indulged without apology.
   
   I commend the book to you.

5 comments about Hyper-chondriac: One Man's Quest to Hurry Up and Calm Down.

1. Between his honest and touching recollection of what life was like for him growing up and the vast range of therapies he experimented with in search for some solid self-help, he is not afraid to reveal his humanness and make fun of himself. I love books that involve a serious subject and yet are infused with so much humor that they reassure you that it is okay to be vulnerable, kind of like Dry by Augusten Burroughs. I have tried many alternative therapies myself but Brian Frazer's willingness to try unorthodox approaches was impressive and the outcomes were hysterical. This book was not only entertaining, but actually could be useful for people suffering from anxiety who seek alternatives to medication.



2. Brian Frazer has written a funny, touching, wonderfully memorable book that I'd recommend to anyone who asked. One of the most impressive things about the text is how it starts with a great momentum that never lets up (not an easy thing to do). Most memoirs leave me cold--they tend to fall prey self-pity or self-congratulations. Frazer avoids the traps, and leaves us with a great memoir.
   
   He's a REALLY talented writer and I look forward to whatever he comes up with next. A fan.



3. HYSTERICAL.
   
   Such a creative and imaginative writer. The scenarios he comes up with are AWESOME. I sometimes find myself thinking "oh my God, is he living in my head?!?". His humor and ridiculous stories have actually helped me past certain things in my life and have helped me to realize that i'm not insane (not certifiably anyway)!!
   
   I love, love, love this book. I recommend it to anyone and everyone.



4. If you're the kind of person who's almost disappointed when it turns out your headache doesn't actually signal a brain tumor, or that your stiff neck is not the result of viral meningitis, then here's an aspirational book for you! Author Brian Frazer is one sick guy. He acquires obscure ailments, conditions and disorders with the ease of a web millionaire accumulating Russian mail-order brides. And boy, is Brian ever angry! Funny, but angry. Apparently, his rage pilot light never goes out. Turns out he grew up in a clan of kooks, and the effect on Brian was nature vs nurture in an internal war that still rages today - much to the delight of his vast retinue of acupunturists, yoga gurus, Kabbalah coaches, Indian nutritionists, etc. One of my favorite aspects of this well-written quirkfest is the child-like trust he places in each new "healer", even in light of their quack credentials. Brian's genuine desire to calm his unruly brain and body, along with the comedic self-awareness of his excesses, helped counter my amused horror at his bizarre outbursts and episodes. Brian's rudder appears to be his forebearing wife, Nancy, who tolerates his various quests with saintly mildness. "Poor Nancy!" was my unspoken refrain as Brian's full weirdness unfolded. The funniest thing was when I tried to discuss the memoir with my husband after I'd finished, but it was like we'd read two different books. I'd enjoyed the tale of an ultra-intense fellow who embarks on ridiculous procedures to control unrealistic amounts of stress brought on by seemingly nothing at all. By contrast, my husband found it to be a highly-relatable account of a can-do guy ingeniously coping with everyday problems. Now I'm wondering who I married.



5. From the very first word to the very last punctuation mark, I was smitten with Brian Frazer's book. And by smitten I mean obsessed. Give-this-lady-a-restraining-order obsessed. I couldn't put the thing down. I dog-eared, highlighted, underlined, astrisked, did spontaneous readings for my illiterate seven-month old -- who, by the way, loved loved LOVED Chapter 7: Laminating... and every single thing that came out of Nancy's mouth, if we're making a list. Bottom line, "Hyper-chondriac" is the funniest and most honest account of the consequences of childhood. A must-have for everyone who has been a child or who has had a parent. David Sedaris and Anne Lamott, watch your backs.

3 comments about The White House Physician: A History from Washington to George W. Bush.

1. Terrific! This is a thoroughly researched body of work. It contains great insights into the development of American medicine, and I highly recommend it to those interested in American and presidential history. Furthermore, its examination of legal, political, and moral issues make it a must-read for those in the medical profession.



2. 
   
   Ludwig Deppisch is a medical doctor who has an interest in medical history, and out of that interest he has given us a book that sets out the fascinating story of the doctors who, from the time of the founding of the republic up through the modern era, have served as physicians to the Presidents. This story is doubly fascinating because it not only traces the historical progress of medicine through time but it also reveals how medical practices, sometimes in conjunction with political subterfuge, can impact the presidency itself.
   
   The first part of the book, which covers the practices of the best doctors of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries - the doctors who treated Presidents - exposes the shortcomings of the medical profession in those years, even as medicine itself was becoming more professional. Thomas Jefferson wrote about his friend doctor Benjamin Rush, a greatly influential figure, that the doctor had "done much harm" with the practice of bleeding patients to treat illness. Indeed, calling on the aid of a doctor did not guarantee a cure; just the opposite could be the case. President James Garfield, who lived in a somewhat more advanced medical period, when shot by an assassin had his wound examined by doctors with hands so dirty that, according to the author, the doctors themselves likely caused his fatal infection. Still, a physically tough old President like Andrew Jackson could have a bullet removed from a dueling wound years after the duel and emerge much improved from the surgery.
   
   But it is as the story moves toward the twentieth century, while medical knowledge seems to be progressing, that we see another compelling issue begin to emerge, and that is how political and medical subterfuge can be employed to deceive the citizenry about what is going on in the health of a President. Grover Cleveland had a secret operation, for example, on board a private yacht, to remove a cancerous growth in his mouth. In the event the operation was a success and the public never became aware of what had taken place. Woodrow Wilson, however, had a stroke of such massive proportions that he probably should have left office but he did not. His physician was complicit in keeping Wilson isolated and the public misinformed about his true condition. FDR's health was so badly failing at the end of his third term that he should never have run for a fourth. But we were in the midst of war. His actual medical state was concealed and the reelected President died a short time into his last term. President Eisenhower had a series of serious medical problems which were interpreted to the public through rose tinted glasses. Never the less, Ike was popular, he completed two terms, and what Americans were told about the President's health likely gave them the reassurance most of them were looking for. Finally, it should be noted that JFK deliberately misrepresented his awful health facts to the American people throughout his political career with the audacity of Harry Houdini making an impossible escape. We might admire the audacity, but was it the right thing to do?
   
   The author also raises some related and interesting issues about using psychiatry as a tool both for evaluating the mental fitness of a President and as a mode of treatment. Hindsight suggests it might have been useful to know more about the mental health and psychological makeup of Richard Nixon before he was elected. But would it have been possible, we wonder, to get an objective and non political pre-election evaluation of Nixon's personality? By the same token, Senator Thomas Eagleton was forced off the Democratic ticket as a Vice Presidential candidate in 1972 when it was revealed he had been treated for serious depression. Was this action appropriate? And how would the American people react if they learned that a President was undergoing current psychiatric treatment? These are worthwhile questions to ponder.
   
   All of this leads us to note that there is some useful discussion in this book about the place of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment when it comes to dealing with the ramifications of any severe medical impairment of a President. And while this constitutional amendment was specifically passed to provide guidelines should a crisis occur, we have unfortunately seen, as in the shooting of President Reagan, that when a crisis does occur key officials can still be caught flatfooted in the immediate aftermath as to what to say and do. Moreover, the question of whether a President is medically fit to continue in office places the White House Physician squarely in the cross hairs of decision making. Thus, relevant officials in any new administration need to discuss and understand all of the protocols to be followed and all of the attendant constitutional and medical implications well in advance of any medical emergency. Deception of the public will probably no longer be tolerated as it has been in the past.
   
   Lastly we should note that, like a good novel, this tale contains some rich characters, strong personalities like Dr. Cary Grayson, Wilson's physician, who can color the story and influence the plot. And we see the potential for conflict when there are many doctors involved in treatment, a few of whom may have large egos. Kennedy had a wide range of treating doctors and his titular head physician, Dr. Travell, was shunted aside while the President received secret and controversial treatments from Max Jacobson, the Manhattan doctor known as "Doctor Feelgood" because of the injections he gave the rich and famous, injections that contained amphetamines and steroids.
   
   All in all, it would be fair to sum up that the author has given us a book that is not only rich in scholarship, but one that tells a tale which is fascinating on its own merits. Moreover, this is a book that is a significant resource of information for any doctors or officials who are newly being called to serve in an administration and who might have to grapple with a replay of history sometime in the future. For them it might be essential reading; for the rest of us it is just a darn good read.
   
   G. F. Shirley



3. This is a well crafted, researched and comprehensive treatise, yet it is an entertaining and fluid "read". I did not expect that the topic could be presented in such an interesting and entertaining manner. The book succeeded in educating me not only in the specifics of the various actors, but in the evolution of the roles and responsibilities of the President's physicians. I had assumed that the provision of medical care to the President had been static over the decades; it was fascinating to learn just how much and how recently it has changed. This book not only deals with presidential physicians, the evolution of presidential medical care (including political overlap), but also provides fascinating insights into presidential history.