chrisiant's review against another edition
4.0
One of my favorite genres is memoirs of everyday heroes, and Joycelyn Elders is definitely one of these. I absolutely admire the no-nonsense way she took on her work in public health and refused to soften or alter what she knew to please politicians. What was more remarkable to me than her work as surgeon general was the impressive improvements she made to the state of rural health in Arkansas when she served as Director of that state's Department of Health. She increased immunization rates and early childhood screenings immensely, and employed a hands-on approach that seems to have brought out the best in her staff.
This book has some of the same flaws common in memoirs, mainly a reporting of history through the eyes of person at the center of the events, which makes the slight skewing of events much more likely. Still, I enjoyed a peek into this woman's perspective, particularly during the period she was the center of a political firestorm. First black woman to be Surgeon General, and she was generally a badass. This book is totally worth the read.
This book has some of the same flaws common in memoirs, mainly a reporting of history through the eyes of person at the center of the events, which makes the slight skewing of events much more likely. Still, I enjoyed a peek into this woman's perspective, particularly during the period she was the center of a political firestorm. First black woman to be Surgeon General, and she was generally a badass. This book is totally worth the read.
veganemelda's review
3.0
I'm struggling to figure out how to rate this. For a public health/sexual health nerd-wannabe like me, who loves hearing personal stories about race/class/sexuality- completely fascinating, and I'd give it a 4. For anyone else? Probably a two. This would be a fascinating story to hear, but written it's a bit lackluster and I could see how people would get bored. Dr. Joycelyn Elders is a vastly under appreciated gift to this country.
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