When i first read this play i couldn't put it down. it made my understanding of the entire stiuation clearer. Reading it brings out emotions i never knew a play could bring out. It is definitly a master work.

This is trul a play worth raeding! It blends a beautiful artistic style with the harsh realities and controvery surrounding euthanasia! It is also a pleasure to perform this piece!

A great play. The sparse and nonrealistic language give it a mood that is both macabre and urgent. Having directed a sizable chunk of it for school, I can say that it is difficult to read but even more difficult NOT to.

When I bought this book I was expecting stories of a primarily doctor's point of view. Though all of the stories, detail various medical conditions, they are not always from the perspective of the doctor. This is also a mostly fictional work. (I'm sure if I read the back cover I would have found that out). However, it is not dissappointing. It is interesting how the author has woven a story very detatched from a medical format around a specific condition in each case. I found it very interesting and plan to buy more of this author's books. Some of the stories have a melancholy side that I'm sure effects the medical community as a whole in hopeless cases or ones where the patient does not seek care beyond diagnosis. It was a good read none the less.

I was enthralled by his words. They flowed and moved with each character.....and the story he unfolded. Wonderfully smooth like silk. And thoughtful, like a brief snag in your emotions. I could not put this book down.

I am a returning student, non-traditional. I have been in science and research for 6 years, and now I am returning to undergraduate classes in hopes of gaining admission to medical school. I found this book in a used bookstore and have not been able to stop reading it. Excellent essays and ruminations on what empathy is, how it is attained and lost and how it might be taught. Excellent reading of an academic nature directly applicable to any student planning on entering the healthcare field.

Hello, I am undergraduat student with a goal of becoming a caring physician. While I was working as a volunteer at the University Hospital, my coordinator told me about this book. I wrote to the publisher and requested a copy from them. This was by the far the best book I have read in my college career. The chapters are well written and organized. Chapter 3 in this book was the most remarkable chapter for me. It opened my eyes in many different ways. It sort of helped me become even more mature... A Must Buy for all the pre-medical student and Medical Students.

There is nothing so fragile as admitting ones frailties. Richard Selzer does this exquisitely. Always with integrity and self-reflections. Think of "Raccoon." Honestly, how would anyone except a soul of great depth understand the desperation of this patient. To be able to bring it to the level of great literature shows remarkable talent. Richard Selzer is my favorite writer beyond any doubt. I must recommend all of his other books, "Letters to a Young Doctor", "Mortal Lessons", "Down From Troy", etc. Make sure you catch "Raising the Dead" as well, which is a wonderful journalistic book. I was shocked however, to discover Cardizem ads scattered throughout. Ouch! Oh well, whatever it takes for other doctors to read and reflect cannot be all bad

After personally meeting Mr. Richard Selzer, I was compelled to read all of his writing. This book-- much like the others--displays Selzer's rich use of the English language while illustrating the deep understanding he has of the human spirit and body. Selzer's unique literature isn't only about medicine and surgery, but also life and humanity. I recommend reading any and/or all of his work.

Max's book definitely takes an interesting look on evasive surgeries. Being a medical photographer, I know that images like this taken during surgeries are not a simple task. But the question is whether or not this can be considered medical photography. Upon questioning Max about how long he had to take these pictures in the surgical settings, a straight answer could not be given. Normally a photographer doesn't have a lot of time to take a picture, they are just supposed to get in there, and take the picture, and get out. Obviously these images were planned out much more than that. They were taken with a 4x5 camera, is unheard of in a surgical setting. He does come up with beautiful images, very artistic in nature. Personally I enjoy looking at the book quite often, but I have to say that these images are not scientific, and if you look close enough, there are quite a few images that were digitally enhanced.

Imagine as a layperson being a witness to 100 major surgeries and you've entered the world of Max Aguilera-Hellweg's incredible book, "The Sacred Heart." A review of this book of surgical photographs in the Los Angeles Times grabbed my attention. "...these images are so visually beautiful that you are drawn into them before you know what you're looking at . . .Most of us have some familiarity with medical photography, and though it's rarely pleasant, it generally has a clinical quality that allows us to distance ourselves from the events depicted. Aguilera-Hellweg upends that tradition as well; drawing a parallel between the invasiveness central to surgery and photography, he leaves the viewer no place to hide and pushes everything front and center." This is the only book I've ever experienced where you think twice about turning the page for fear of what you might see next. Check it out.

This book is brave, and very well put-together. The work of photographer Max Aguilera-Hellweg, whose shots can also be seen in the yearly calendar issued by Philadelphia's Mutter Museum, is brilliant in its lighting and composition.

The subject, as revealed in the subtitle, is invasive surgery. Those who say the book is exploitative since the photographs are disturbing, probably need a Hallmark Card version of truth, and reality.

Invasive surgery invades the body. There are not photographs of Kate Moss, though it might be of Kate Moss later in life after the effects of her smoking finally rear their ugly head. But the photos in The Sacred Heart really come to terms with the ugliness and contradictory beauty of the human body in its most elemental stage.

The introduction is by Richard Selzer, whose other extremely readable books achieve direct paths to the most curious and disturbing aspects of what is seen by the doctor of medicine.

Under the old Amazon.com ranking system, I would give this book a seven on a ten point scale. As a fellow surgeon who enjoys Selzer's writings, I thought this was a good, yet not great collection of ruminations. Some of the chapters were quite touching, some were funny, and some were quite plain. A few actually suffered from Selzer's exuberant imagination as he tried to stuff meaning and metaphor into patients' stories that didn't fit. Taking it all together, I'm glad I bought it, but I liked his book Mortal Lessons much better.

Having read Doctor's stories first, I was prepared for Richard Selzer's excellent writing. This book must be the origin of some of the stories that wound up in Doctor Stories (Imelda, Impostor, Chatterbox)

MOSTLY THE LIFE OF A DOCTOR IN PRACTICE OF SURGERY (70% OF BOOK)
Unlike Doctor Stories which have a wider range of stories, this book except for a couple of sidelines is about the craft of the Doctor, in and out of the Operating room and Hospital. Also, the doctor's perspective on the outside world. However, I wonder how many other doctors have his sense of service. Some of us can't imagine a high-priced surgeon performing the service he does in "Toe nails" one of the stories within.

DETAILS AND THE EMOTIONS AROUND THEM, FILL THIS BOOK:
Richard Selzer writing is poetic in his description of a doctor's musings on the Art of Surgery, the halls of the hospitals and the feel of working inside the human body. In many sense his reflections on his relationships with the tools he uses could the same a mechanic, a draftsman (of the 50s-80s), or the artist feels about the tools they use to perform their craft.

POETIC DETAILS ON EVEN THE MOST ORDINARY SITUATION:
He finds beauty in the minute details of life and has the gift to write about them. I also have his book "Mortal Lessons" that I hope to read soon as well. His books are addicting in the sense that you too also begin, if you don't already, to see the details of your own work and the relationships you have with the world around you. Either I think similarly or his thought process is universal, but he captures the magic of living and the impressions we all have at time. Even if you are not a doctor (and I'm not), you will find a sense of familiarity in his writing.

MEDICINE MAY BE WHAT HAS FINE-TUNED HIS SENSES:
Medicine however, has a draw that few other crafts do. It is the mystery of our own plumbing. It also has the human element of relationships and drama within it as well. The author does well to capture the patient's relationship with the physician. Richard Selzer does well to capture the detached relationship; a physician has with the body but not the soul of the patients, he treats. When he acknowledges the person within the body the relationship broadens and he as a physician has opened himself up to the pain as well. He does this from time to time.

ZEN-LIKE IN THOUGHT:
I found this book very Zen-like in its concentration of detail. If Richard Selzer decides to write a book like "Sweeping Changes" a book on Zen philosophy on cleaning, but except on the art of living, he would be well-qualified. He makes holy what many take to be ordinary. Bravo.

This book delivers a knockout punch of genuine compassion. Teachers, ministers, politicians; even peace officers can find value in these writings. Doctors are not healers, but servants. Dr. Selzer knew the meaning of humility.

I found this book to be awe inspiring. If all doctors realized the complexities of the human body and the LIFE contained therein and recognized the sanctity of human existence there probably would be fewer mistakes in surgery. It must be an awesome experience to be inside a human life...not just operating on a body.

I literally fell into Dr Selzer's writing style. I bought this book ...blind, so to speak. I didn't know what to expect. I'm glad I was compelled to take a chance on it. I wish he were MY doctor.

There is an innate beauty in the structure of the human body. The mystery of the intricate brain, the poetry of blood rushing through vessels, organs working together to keep the body working in unison. Dr. Richard Selzer's collection of essays Mortal Lessons: Notes on the Art of Surgery, captures the essence of a surgeons life from the most intimate of perspectives. Mortal Lessons is a thoughtful, introspective recollection of Selzer's own experiences as a surgeon. Commonly thought of as distant, unfeeling practitioners, Selzer humanizes the entire profession as he recounts patients, cases, fellow doctors, and the human body through years of practical experience. Selzer's gifted, conversational style of writing eases the horror of exploring the liver, 'belly', skin, and various elements of the human body through the eyes of the surgeon. But it is outside the operating theater that Selzer truly shines in this collection of essays. Perhaps the most touching episode of Mortal Lessons is the brief postoperative discussion which transpires between Selzer and a young couple, the wife of whom he has just left scarred for life. Selzer, traumatized by being forced to cut a nerve in the woman's cheek to remove a tumor, answers the couple's questions. 'Who are they, I ask myself, he and this wry mouth I have made, who gaze at and touch each other so generously, greedily? The young woman speaks. "Will my mouth always be like this?" she asks? "Yes," I say, "it will. It is because the nerve was cut." She nods and is silent. But the young man smiles. "I like it," he says. "It is kind of cute." All at once I know who he is. I and understand, and I lower my gaze. One is not bold in an encounter with a god. Unmindful, he bends to kiss her crooked mouth, and I so close I can see how he twists his own lips to accommodate to hers, to show her that their kiss still works. I remember that the gods appeared in ancient Greece as mortals, and I hold my breath and let the wonder in.' Selzer, page 46 The impact of Selzer's work is diminished as he reaches for the words and phrases in the section of the book titled "The Body". The essays become more clinical in their orientation and demeanor. Although it is intriguing to learn the structure of the liver, the storytelling loses the humanistic value that Selzer exhibits in other sections of the book, such as in the essay titled "Abortion." Straight forward but personal, Selzer recounts witnessing a late-term abortion. It is a procedure that Selzer has never contemplated previously and holds no apparent opinions about. But as we are taken into the operating suite, introduced to the patient, and walked through the process of the abortion, a picture develops in the readers eye that is difficult to dismiss. Sympathizing with Selzer, it is easy to believe that a murder has taken place between the sterile confines of the hospital walls. Mortal Lessons is an intelligent, well written book that appeals even to those outside the medical profession. And for those men and women just entering the medical profession, it is a must read guide on how to treat patients.

Selzer's writing is eloquent and graphically realistic at the same time. A true masterpiece, it incorporates vignettes and facts to give the reader a sense of what a surgeons job really is. Selzer uses elevated language and florid diction to give the reader somewhat of a mental workout. This book is so hard to put down because his stories of oddities and disorders are so intriguing. Selzer uses many metaphors to convey his message about the inner workings of the human body. He shows the reader that the inside is beautiful as well. Mortal Lessons is an extremely fascinating book that deserves a thumbs up and four stars! I disagree with Selzer's view of smoking which he says is a beautiful and addicting thing. I think he should have written about what smoking does to the body instead of condoning its use. In the chapter Abortion, Selzer evoked many emotions in me for the lost fetuses. It was very interesting to know the procedure of an abortion. Also the procedure for an autopsy, embalm

I enjoyed very much the chapters about Selzer's childhood and about his physician-father. I don't think the book needed to be 300 pages long. At 200 pages, focused on his childhood, it would have been much better. The "stuff" he used to fill in and create a 300 page book wasn't relevant and sometimes was totally ridiculous. Did I want to read a paper he wrote in high school? I don't think so.

Before Richard Selzer I didn't think much of Troy. Selzer's descriptions of his Dad's practice, the story tellers at the corner pub, and the action along the river are not glamorous but they are rich and warm. He taught me how to make the best French coffee and dazzled my mind with exotic words. Now I beg my husband to make detours through Troy. He thought I was nuts until he read the book, and now he's hooked too. I have read nearly all of Selzer's books and this is my favorite.

Etta Clark's subjects, all older people who are very active, show that older people can struggle against the ravages of time and gravity. And the subjects, in their photographs, display a courage and beauty all their own

Looking through this book, I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the aging body, as well as inspired that getting older does not mean frailty and inactivity, but independence and renewed energy. Everyone of us can strive to be *our* best, no matter what activity we choose, from surfing to swimming, dancing and senior olympic sports, to body building. Age makes no difference, it is your inner spirit that keeps you young and vital!