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pjdas1012's review against another edition
5.0
Hope and Despair
By depicting a doctor's battles with and for the poor in Washington D.C., this novel is unabashed in its honesty. Not only does it bring to light the many injustices that society has placed on the homeless, but it exposes the demons we all have in ourselves. Many say they want to help, but what will they say when their help seems to change nothing? When it seems as though the world does not care about the poor and chooses the least painful narrative, that poor "brought it upon themselves," or they could just "go get a job?" This book shows that reality is not that simple, yet even among mountains of despair there is reason to hope.
By depicting a doctor's battles with and for the poor in Washington D.C., this novel is unabashed in its honesty. Not only does it bring to light the many injustices that society has placed on the homeless, but it exposes the demons we all have in ourselves. Many say they want to help, but what will they say when their help seems to change nothing? When it seems as though the world does not care about the poor and chooses the least painful narrative, that poor "brought it upon themselves," or they could just "go get a job?" This book shows that reality is not that simple, yet even among mountains of despair there is reason to hope.
sugy's review
3.0
book started shaky, got better, but then he started diving into prejudices that made it clear he wasnt doing the work for the goodness of his heart, he was doing it because of some ulterior motive. this is the second book i've read by hilfiker and was hoping it would be better than the last. i would use this and his other book as examples of why medicine can learn a lot from public health - everything is a social issue and we must take into account social and cultural issues when improving the health of a nation. while i can appreciate the book dealing with dr hilfiker's internal workings and predjudices which acknowledges to an extent and he writes about extensively in the second half, i felt like he still missed much of the point and the ills of "the poor" which doesnt mean necessarily that someone is homeless or almost homeless or that the ills of slavery (as opposed to the more recent double standards of law that unjustly disadvantage people of color) have a great deal to do with the condition of those he works with.
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