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June 17, 2010

Recommended Books for Healthcare Workers

While Linda gets settled into her second full-time physical therapy clinical rotation, she has asked me (her husband David) to guest post.

I am a voracious reader. Over the past several years I have become a fan of well-written memoirs, and often recommend books that deal with illness and treatment from the patient's perspective to Linda and our friends in healthcare. Reading these books enhances empathy for the patient as he or she works his way through treatment as well as the healthcare system.

These are the five books I most recommend to healthcare workers. Three of the books are written by patients (Happy, The Two Kinds of Decay, and Stitches), one by a brother of the patient (The Hypochondriacs).

The reviews come from the original posts on my music and literature blog, Largehearted Boy, and links go to the original post.

Epileptic
by David B.

When I started the 2005 52 Books 52 Weeks project, Atomic Books offered to sponsor the endeavor. Since this indie bookstore specializes in comics, graphic novels and off-the-beaten-path literature, I decided to sample many of their specialties (though they made clear that I could read anything I want). In January, I let the bookstore staff choose my reading list, and was not disappointed. Since then, I have relied on the store's bestsellers and blog for reading recommendations.

One of the bestsellers I chose was "the best European graphic novel of the 90's," Epileptic by David B. This engrossing book amazed me, as the author recounts his family (and personal) past. Dealing with his brother's epilepsy that defines his family, David B. paints (no pun intended) an expressionist picture of desperation and hope. David B. deals with these issues through his art, confronting personal demons along the way. The emotional depth of this graphic novel is simply astounding, and every panel can be treasured for its artwork alone. I simply cannot say enough good things about this book, and will be recommending it to everyone (except my wife, this is the kind of psychological drama that gives her nightmares).

Happy
by Alex Lemon

My wife is getting a doctorate in physical therapy, and always asking me to recommend books with medical themes that humanize patients' experiences with the medical establishment and their afflictions. In the past I have recommended David B.'s graphic novel, Epileptic, Sarah Manguso's memoir, The Two Kinds of Decay, and Brian Dillon's The Hypochondriacs, all books she enjoyed and found enlightening. This past week I recommended Alex Lemon's memoir, Happy, and she couldn't put it down.

Alex Lemon's memoir is a rollercoaster, a whirlwhind of action and emotion. A college athlete seemingly bent on self-destruction, he begins experiencing double vision and vertigo and is eventually diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage. This is more than just a medical story, Lemon candidly recounts his own tragic personal history as a child and vividly shares his life dealing with this life-threatening medical condition.

Lemon is a poet, and the poetic power of words is always evident in Happy, one of the most striking memoirs I have read in years.

The Hypochondriacs: Nine Tormented Lives
by Brian Dillon

Brian Dillon's book The Hypochondriacs: Nine Tormented Lives (published in the UK as Tormented Hope: Nine Hypochondriac Lives) tells the stories of nine famous people and the role their hypochondria played in their lives. The subjects range from the historical (Charles Darwin & Emily Bronte) to the modern (Michael Jackson and Andy Warhol), and Dillon respectfully delves into their medical and psychological histories.

The Hypochondriacs is a fascinating book that informs and entertains as it explores hypochondria's effects not only on these subjects' lives but also their art.

Stitches
by David Small

David Small's graphic memoir Stitches is captivating, the most impressive autobiography graphically told since Alison Bechdel's Fun Home.

Small recounts his youth with his unpredictable mother and emotionally distant father in hauntingly dark panels that convey his isolation perfectly. Small is a Caldecott-winning illustrator and author of critically acclaimed children's books, and his talent for storytelling with both his brush and through dialog is evident in this autobiography. Stitches may just not only be the year's best graphic memoir, but the year's most stellar memoir in any medium.

The Two Kinds of Decay
by Sarah Manguso

Sarah Manguso's memoir The Two Kinds of Decay is filled with surgically precise, economical prose. It's no surprise that Manguso is an accomplished poet, and brings the best qualities of that genre to her book about illness and recovery. Manguso's honesty makes The Two Kinds of Decay worth reading, but it is her literary style that transforms a tragic story into an ultimately uplifting one.

Posted by david at June 17, 2010 11:39 AM

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