Tag: Books and Reviews
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Book review: Creative Arts in Humane Medicine
Mary Ann McDermottChicago, Illinois, United States McLean’s new book is for all those interested in healthcare and the arts. The book compiles programming descriptions, “how to” instructions, small research studies, personal memoirs, and short essays by medicine, nursing, and dentistry professionals as well as by patients, social service professionals, artists, students, and others! The book…
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Doctors and illness in Boccaccio’s Decameron
Maria SgouridouGreece Introduction Giovanni Boccaccio was born in Tuscany in 1313, the illegitimate son of a merchant of Certaldo, who launched him on a commercial career hoping he would follow in his steps. Sent to Naples for that reason, he soon abandoned commerce and the study of canon law, and began instead to write stories…
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GI Joe: The life and career of Dr. Joseph B. Kirsner
James L. FranklinChicago, IL On September 21, 2009, Dr. Joseph B. Kirsner, University of Chicago Louis Block Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine, will celebrate his 100th birthday. In his centennial year, the American Gastroenterological Association Foundation for Digestive Health and Nutrition honored Dr. Kirsner with a celebratory dinner on May 29, 2009 as a part…
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Two Scottish tales of medical compassion
James L. FranklinChicago, Illinois, United States Dr. John Raffensberger has served both a literary and humanistic cause by placing in our hands two stories that highlight the most admired traits in a physician, the traits of empathy and understanding that patients and their families require. This slim but handsome volume brings together two Scottish tales…
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Feminist epistemologies in A Woman Under the Influence
Heather StewartLouisville, Kentucky, United States In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s seminal short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the narrative presents a woman presumably driven to the point of insanity by her gendered social role and restriction to the domestic sphere. This story represents a fictional account of the problems of pervasive and unchallenged gender norms, problematic gendered…
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The creation of Tennessee Williams’ Blanche Dubois: A biographical psychotic neurotic
Fizzah AliUnited Kingdom The American dramatist Tennessee Williams wrote several plays, among these The Glass Menagerie,1 The Rose Tattoo,2 and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.3 Recurrent themes in his plays are alcoholism, the death of loved ones, repressed sexuality, and isolation. The Glass Menagerie is an exploration of isolation in conjunction with illness. The…
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Edgar Allan Poe—A tormented literary genius
Donna OlsonWhitelaw, Alberta A man attempts to hide from his sins and ultimately from himself. A murderer takes an old man’s life and hides the body under the floorboards. But he cannot silence his guilt, so he keeps on hearing the dead man’s heart in his room. This story is “The Tell-Tale Heart,” written by…
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Aging in (another) place: Magda Szabo’s novel Iza’s Ballad
Carol LevineNew York, New York, United States In Hungary in the early 1960s, Izabella (Iza) Szöcs is a physician, and a very good one, according to her patients and peers. Her specialty is rheumatology, but she makes “notes not just about the pain in the hands or feet or aching joint, but about the person…
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The lady writer and the Valkyrie: Magda Szabo’s novel The Door
Carol LevineNew York, New York, United States An old woman desperately needs medical attention. Yet she fiercely refuses every offer of help from friends, neighbors, and the local doctor. No one will get past her door, she vows. Respecting her autonomy means leaving her alone, possibly to die. Intervening to save her means risking her…