Starred review from February 12, 2007
Surgeon and MacArthur fellow Gawande applies his gift for dulcet prose to medical and ethical dilemmas in this collection of 12 original and previously published essays adapted from the New England Journal of Medicine
and the New Yorker
. If his 2002 collection, Complications
, addressed the unfathomable intractability of the body, this is largely about how we erect barriers to seamless and thorough care. Doctors know they should wash their hands more often to avoid bacterial transfer in the ward, but once a minute does seem extreme. Using chaperones for breast exams seems a fine idea, but it does make situations awkward. "The social dimension turns out to be as essential as the scientific," Gawande writes—a conclusion that could serve as a thumbnail summary of his entire output. The heart of the book are the chapters "What Doctors Owe," about the U.S.'s blinkered malpractice system, and "Piecework," about what doctors earn. Cheerier, paradoxically, are the chapters involving polio and cystic fibrosis, featuring Dr. Pankaj Bhatnagar and Dr. Warren Warwick, two remarkable men who have been able to catapult their humanity into their work rather than constantly stumble over it. Indeed, one suspects that once we cure the ills of the health care system, we'll look back and see that Gawande's writings were part of the story.

July 30, 2007
Veteran character actor Lloyd does a commendable job in narrating Gawande's arresting exposé of the razor-thin margin that separates top doctors from the rest. While the book has its share of sensational and bloodcurdling tales of virulent infections and medicine gone wrong, Lloyd resists the urge to sensationalize his reading. He rightly senses that these tales do not constitute the heart of this book. Some parts are necessarily slow-moving and methodical, including a lecture on the proper way to scrub hands or a complex rundown of India's health care system. Lloyd's quietly authoritative reading lends an unhurried air that is appropriate for a book fundamentally about taking the time to care, and care diligently, about the things that matter most. Gawande's writing works well on audio as several chapters appeared as discrete essays in the New Yorker
and the New England Journal of Medicine
, and still bear the stamp of stand-alone material. It's perfect for listeners who prefer thoughtful, short essays for a ride in the car or a walk on the treadmill. Simultaneous release with the Metropolitan hardcover (Reviews, Feb. 12).

Starred review from April 2, 2007
Surgeon and MacArthur fellow Gawande applies his gift for dulcet prose to medical and ethical dilemmas in this collection of 12 original and previously published essays adapted from theNew England Journal of Medicine and the New Yorker . If his 2002 collection,Complications , addressed the unfathomable intractability of the body, this is largely about how we erect barriers to seamless and thorough care. Doctors know they should wash their hands more often to avoid bacterial transfer in the ward, but once a minute does seem extreme. Using chaperones for breast exams seems a fine idea, but it does make situations awkward. "The social dimension turns out to be as essential as the scientific," Gawande writes\x97a conclusion that could serve as a thumbnail summary of his entire output. The heart of the book are the chapters "What Doctors Owe," about the U.S.'s blinkered malpractice system, and "Piecework," about what doctors earn. Cheerier, paradoxically, are the chapters involving polio and cystic fibrosis, featuring Dr. Pankaj Bhatnagar and Dr. Warren Warwick, two remarkable men who have been able to catapult their humanity into their work rather than constantly stumble over it. Indeed, one suspects that once we cure the ills of the health care system, we'll look back and see that Gawande's writings were part of the story.

I found I had been gripping the book so hard that my fingers hurt ... it calls to mind one of the great classics of medical literature, Mikhail Bulgakov's A Country Doctor's Notebook. Few modern authors can stand that comparison, but Gawande can.

A fascinating study.

This wise and often profound book should be an inspiration to doctors all over the world

His book is riveting: packed with insights, its luminous prose lifting effortlessly off the page ... It is essential reading for doctors and should be handed out with the antibiotics to all users of the NHS. It has already been described as a modern masterpiece - and so it is.