10/24/2022
In this immersive memoir, retired neurosurgeon Marsh (Admissions: Life as a Brain Surgeon) recalls the transformation he made from doctor to patient when he was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. After suffering a bevy of symptoms, 70-year-old Marsh received the news at the beginning of 2021 and plunged into a state of denial: “I thought I was being stoical when in reality I was being a coward.” He recounts his radiation treatment (“It all became very routine”) and the lessons he learned before he retired at age 65; for example, he once operated on the wrong side of a man’s neck, which taught him to be honest with patients, no matter how difficult the situation. Similarly, he recalls telling an elderly patient, who was completely paralyzed from the waist down, that he would never walk again, a memory that forces Marsh to imagine his own last hours of life: “I became increasingly desperate as I imagined how miserable my death might be.” Throughout, Marsh interweaves tender moments from his personal life, including storytimes with his granddaughters, with discussions of gene editing and other medical topics. Readers will find much to appreciate in this pensive probe into what it means to face mortality. (Jan.)
Praise for Do No Harm:
“Like the work of his fellow physicians Jerome Groopman and Atul Gawande, Do No Harm offers insight into the life of doctors and the quandaries they face as we throw our outsize hopes into their fallible hands.” —The Washington Post
“Riveting. ... [Marsh] gives us an extraordinarily intimate, compassionate and sometimes frightening understanding of his vocation.” —The New York Times
“The Knausgaard of neurosurgery... Marsh writes like a novelist.” —The New Yorker
“There's no denying the vicarious thrill of peeking over a neurosurgeon's shoulder in the operating theater, and Dr. Marsh delivers plenty of hospital drama. Yet what sticks with you are the moments when the lens flips and the field of view widens, and you realize that, in learning about the minutiae of neurosurgery, you're gaining insight into life itself.” —The Wall Street Journal
“One of the best books ever about a life in medicine, Do No Harm boldly and gracefully exposes the vulnerability and painful privilege of being a physician.” —Booklist (starred review)
08/01/2022
Author of the New York Times best-selling Do No Harm, which won the PEN Ackerley Prize and was short-listed for many other honors, retired neurosurgeon Marsh got a different take on the medical world when he was diagnosed with advanced cancer. Here he meditates on the move from doctor to patient, the challenges of illness and aging, and the beauties of family and science. With a 30,000-copy first printing.
★ 2022-10-11
The latest compelling memoir from the British neurosurgeon.
In 2014, Marsh published the excellent Do No Harm; in 2017, he followed it up with an equally fine sequel, Admissions. Now past 72 and retired, he writes about becoming a patient. Doctor writers produce a steady stream of such books, but this is among the best. Despite being retired, Marsh “continued to think that illness happened to patients and not to doctors.” He assumed that the urinary difficulties he had been experiencing for years were the result of benign prostatic enlargement, which affects most men as they age. In fact, he had prostate cancer, which had probably spread. The author does not hide his terror at this news. He reviews his life, finding much to applaud but plenty of regrets, and he capably describes his experiences as a patient. Like anyone, he hoped for good news, perhaps even that he may be cured, but it never came. More unnervingly, listening to his doctors revealed that he (like they) held too high an opinion of himself. Patients who love their doctors tell them so, while disappointed patients mostly keep quiet. Doctors who write memoirs admit flaws, but lack of compassion is rarely among them. To his distress, observing how the doctors dealt with him, Marsh realized that he could have done better in the compassion department. This is not a denunciation of the medical profession; almost everyone he encountered treated him kindly. Accepting that he would die but fearful that he might suffer, he reserves his hatred for opponents of assisted suicide: “It is as though they think that assisted dying is cheating” or “that there is something ‘natural’ about dying slowly and painfully.” The author offers a fascinating account of his often disagreeable treatment but remains entranced by the wonders of the natural world, science, and love for his family. The conclusion finds him still alive and, readers will hope, writing another book.
Another masterful memoir from Marsh.
After retiring from a career as a neurosurgeon treating cancer patients, Henry Marsh had to confront his own cancer challenge. Here, he offers an engaging account of his adventures as a patient, his medical career, and the assorted challenges of old age. His clear and relaxed speaking tone, magnetic but never overwrought, is perfect for delivering these perspectives. His stage-worthy, upper-class British accent works well to deliver his personal disclosures and observations, and these vocal features invite listeners into his world without sounding self-absorbed. As a mature observer of the human condition, he has audible serenity that makes listeners curious about how his story ends. His asides and accessible comments about the body’s systems and malfunctions offer a context that makes this audiobook as informative as it is absorbing. T.W. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
After retiring from a career as a neurosurgeon treating cancer patients, Henry Marsh had to confront his own cancer challenge. Here, he offers an engaging account of his adventures as a patient, his medical career, and the assorted challenges of old age. His clear and relaxed speaking tone, magnetic but never overwrought, is perfect for delivering these perspectives. His stage-worthy, upper-class British accent works well to deliver his personal disclosures and observations, and these vocal features invite listeners into his world without sounding self-absorbed. As a mature observer of the human condition, he has audible serenity that makes listeners curious about how his story ends. His asides and accessible comments about the body’s systems and malfunctions offer a context that makes this audiobook as informative as it is absorbing. T.W. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
