“Born to Be is an excellent introduction to gender-affirming surgery for a general audience. It’s a film about some courageous transgender and gender non-binary people and one caring physician.”
“Not so much a remedy for all that troubles the medical profession as it is a roadmap pointing the way towards professional satisfaction and a meaningful career in medicine.”
“Cipolla’s account of the Monte Lupo bubonic plague epidemic shows how an infectious epidemic drove people into groups based on beliefs or knowledge, or as he put it, faith or reason.”
“Ultimately, what we see in Foege’s writing is that public health is not one field: it is a team-sport that combines science, global and domestic policy, and culture in service of social justice.”
“[The book] tells the story of a world where cities can come alive, not in the corporeal sense, and not in this universe, but in a way that intersects nonetheless with our reality.”
“The underlying premise of this engrossing book is the well documented historical fact that William Shakespeare had a young son who died at age 11, relatively early in his father’s theatrical career.”
“This is a sensitive book which approaches such painful topics as domestic violence and racism, and which gets to the heart of what it means to be a healer."
“The poems represent multiple viewpoints—patients, caregivers, family members as they struggle to make sense of the vicissitudes—and unexpected joys—in life."
"At 23 years of age, Caitlin Doughty went to work for a crematory in
Oakland, California, and looked human mortality right in the eye. She
reports on her first six years in the funeral industry."
“Davis is known for her ability to see and understand what is going on and to hear the unique voices that express suffering, faith, desire—and to convey empathic understanding of the speaker.”
"Despite my qualms, Brave Story is a wonderful piece of
literature that provides much insight into the adolescent mind for use
in broaching topics such as racial discrimination, religious zealotry,
childhood divorce, and radical acceptance."
“Many of the descriptions of the plague in Milan that Manzoni offers from his sources mirror descriptions that have appeared in contemporary mainstream accounts about the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. in 2020.”
“Norman’s memoir puts in stark relief the barriers in place when a young woman seeks help for an under-researched gynecological problem within a medical system still reckoning with its patriarchal norms and values.”
“The Galvins of Hidden Valley Road, just outside Colorado Springs, appear to be the kind of wholesome, all-American family that others might envy. The tragic fact is that six of the twelve children go on to develop schizophrenia..”
“Gottlieb’s writing is unique as she places a magnifying
glass on herself and her own experiences in therapy just as much, if not more,
than those of her patients.”
“ The mystery of end-of-life dreams—their visions of loved ones; of seeking forgiveness, healing, and understanding within weeks, sometimes days, of one’s death; of comforting apparitions and visitations—points to a miraculous capacity within the human heart that eases the life-to-death transition.”
"Directed by Robin Campillo, himself a veteran of Paris’s ACT UP, the film details the realities of being an HIV/AIDS political action group during an era of governmental inaction and lack of recognition of those most impacted by HIV and AIDS."
"[Dylan Mortimer] not only creates art about the challenges of cystic fibrosis, with broken lungs and purulent mucus, but also about his gratitude for the lung transplants and their gift of life."
"In a novel whose scope includes the most destructive features of modern society, Smith is able to infuse small day-to-day events and artifacts with meaning and optimism."
"A broader perspective of this book shows how a novelist can probe science and generate questions about it, warn of possible negative implications, and generate reasonable doubt and skepticism."
"Matthew Wong was a rising young painter who died of suicide on October 2, 2019. … [There is a] sense of isolation and longing in the painting, depicted by the solitary figure on a barren ridge, looking back at a house in lush green surroundings."
“Responding to a shortage of doctors in rural areas in 2013, Dr. Virji, a Muslim, moved from the urban East coast to a small town in Minnesota. The story is nuanced and sometimes surprising in the way it shows how medicine offers an access route across tightly held political and religious boundaries.”