The Uncertain Art by Sherwin B. Nuland

I first heard about Sherwin B. Nuland's The Uncertain Art: Thoughts on a Life in Medicine through the New York Times Book Review -- Barry Gewen’s “A Doctor Finds Miracles in Medicine” published June 6, 2008.

The book consists entirely of essays publishes in The American Scholar between 1998 and 2004.

This book is really quite special. Nuland's post-9/11 essay and his thoughts on his heart transplant candidate friend are especially poignant. His essay on our species' obsession with poop was humorous. His writings on acupuncture, Chinese medicine, and the mind-body relationship are insightful. And every essay was thoughtful and educational.

I may even purchase a copy of this book, since I read one from the library.

Here's the Table of Contents:

Author's Note  xi
Prooemium: An Introduction to My Book  xiii

The Whole Law of Medicine  3
Narcissus Looks Into the Laboratory  12
The Medical School and the University  20
The True Healers  28
Pumping Iron  35
Acupuncture in the Operating Room  42
Chinese Medicine, Western Medicine, and Acupuncture  50
The Misty Crystal Ball  59
Hidden Meanings  67
Is There a Doctor in the House?  75
Writing  83
Robbing Graves  91
Mind, Body, and the Doctor  99
The Great Books  108
Grief and Reflection: After 9/11  116
Lightning on My Mind  123
Scatological Medicine  132
Hippocrates Redux  140
The Artist and the Doctor  148
The Man or the Moment?  157
Letters From a Heart Transplant Candidate  165

Acknowledgments  187
Index  189

Click here to read an excerpt. Enjoy!

The Uncertain Art by Sherwin B. Nuland

I'm really enjoying Sherwin B. Nuland's The Uncertain Art: Thoughts on a Life in Medicine, which I heard about through the New York Times Book Review (as usual) and checked out from the library last month.

Each essay, most of which were originally published in The American Scholar, is a joy to read. His essay on exercise is funny and I particularly like Nuland's ability to discuss the history of medicine (and even art history) as it relates to his surgical practice at Yale and modern medical practice in general.

Will write more when I finish the book...

NYTimes.com Book Review - The Uncertain Art by Sherwin B. Nuland

I've just read about Sherwin B. Nuland's The Uncertain Art: Thoughts on a Life in Medicine in Barry Gewen's "A Doctor Finds Miracles in Medicine" published June 6, 2008 in the New York Times Book Review.

I've always been fascinated by medicine and I love to read books about medicine (Awakenings and An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales by Oliver Sacks, The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph From the Frontiers of Brain Science by Norman Doidge, and most recently Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath by Michael Paul Mason).

Nuland is a clinical professor of surgery at Yale University and the author of How We Die: Reflections on Life’s Final Chapter (which won the National Book Award).

The publisher, Random House, describes The Uncertain Art as "a superb collection of essays about the vital mix of expertise, intuition, sound judgment, and pure chance that plays a part in a doctor’s practice and life."

Already it sounds more light-hearted than Mason's Head Cases (good book, but quite intense and sad) and more interesting than Hospital: Man, Woman, Birth, Death, Infinity, Plus Red Tape, Bad Behavior, Money, God and Diversity on Steroids by Julie Salamon (reviewed June 3 in the New York Times by Abigal Zuger here).

I would especially like to read Nuland's writing about acupuncture, electroshock therapy, and other non-mainstream practices; I'll have to check my local library and see if I can put a copy of The Uncertain Art (and maybe also Hospital) on hold!

Click here to read an excerpt of The Uncertain Art.