By That I Mean Angina Pectoris

Burnham, Gregory

Primary Category: Literature / Fiction

Squier, Harriet

Date of entry: Aug-26-2005

Summary

This very short story is told from the point of view of an adult child who has just learned that his (or her) father has been taken to the hospital for angina pectoris. The narrator recounts in a telegraphic form what it is like finding his (her) way through the hospital to the doctor and finding out the verdict about the father's condition.

Commentary

This story is excellent for use in situations when advanced preparation is not possible, as well as in traditional literature and medicine settings. It raises the issues of what it feels like to receive bad news, how one's perceptions are affected by extreme shock, how doctors give bad news, and how it feels to be the doctor in situations like this one.

Miscellaneous

Primary Source

Vital Lines: Contemporary Fiction about Medicine

Publisher

St. Martin's

Place Published

New York

Edition

1990

Editor

Jon Mukand