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hhabig310's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
2.75
I give the doctor credit for letting us into his world and writing a book. However, he should’ve probably had some help writing it. I felt like parts were very long-winded and I found myself zoning out a lot, which usually doesn’t happen to me when I’m reading. Also, he chose to read the audiobook version and his voice did not keep my interest at all, not a ton of inflection. It was almost a DNF, but I did like the story around the hospital itself and some of the patients, including his own cancer story.
cborders3's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.75
This is not something I would normally pick up and read. However I am beyond grateful that it came across my pintrest and it caught my eye. As someone who works in Healthcare, this opened my eyes to experiences that others are facing that I may not ever deal with.
bookishcitygal's review against another edition
4.0
This book is not fiction. It’s the real experiences of doctor in NYCs longest running public hospital. His take on his patients is humanistic and beyond what you normally hear about from the medical profession.
mmwilder's review against another edition
It’s good but it’s very nonfiction, not my speed but very well written. It’s taking me forever to get through
jank_1023's review against another edition
3.0
New Amsterdam (ABC- a new medical drama TV series) was based upon this book. Because I like the show, I decided to read the book. This book is an interesting first-hand look into Bellevue Hospital in New York City; its clientele ranges from the very rich to those incarcerated at Riker's Island. 12 cases (included his own) are shared in a way to allow the reader to see issues beyond medical care - teen suicide, obesity, and immigration to name a few. I would give this a higher star rating but felt the author was long-winded with certain cases and/or causes and at times brevity would’ve been better served. But having said that, I now see hospitals and their staff with more clarity and certainly more compassion.
captainsneakers's review against another edition
I was expecting more of a nonfiction writing style. This was not what I was looking for.
alivaster's review against another edition
1.0
I'm going to make this really short. I found this book because I loved the medical drama. I'm not sure what I expected from this book, but it didn't capture my attention in any way and after spending over 2 months trying to read it and not getting past 1/3 of the way through, I DNFed the book.
miavitula's review against another edition
2.0
I didn’t hate this book, the stories about the 12 different patients briefly mentioned the medical cases to give backstories about a larger social issue (immigration, prisoners, abuse, drug addiction, etc.).
I’m giving it 2 stars because it was SO hard to read. Imagine a sleep-deprived MD trying to be an author, throwing in pointless details and extra “fluff”. I found myself skipping entire paragraphs because they had nothing to do with the chapter/patient I was reading about. I would’ve definitely enjoyed this book more if Dr. Manheimer had found a better editor to translate his experiences into words.
I’m giving it 2 stars because it was SO hard to read. Imagine a sleep-deprived MD trying to be an author, throwing in pointless details and extra “fluff”. I found myself skipping entire paragraphs because they had nothing to do with the chapter/patient I was reading about. I would’ve definitely enjoyed this book more if Dr. Manheimer had found a better editor to translate his experiences into words.