At Issue Series - Physician-Assisted Suicide (hardcover edition) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1565100190 ISBN 13: 9781565100190

Publisher: Greenhaven Press, 1997

Modern medical technology enables people to live longer than ever before, but also causes terminally ill patients to suffer prolonged and painful deaths. Authors in this anthology debate whether doctors should be allowed to help such patients end their own lives.

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Review:

"The topic is intriguing, and the generally vehement tome of the selections provides much for students to ponder and debate."
-- Booklist (Febraury 2003) (Booklist 20030201)

"This book is great for debate material or as a writing prompt for persuasive essays. This collection is for mature readers with the critical-thinking skills needed to understand and evaluate the materials."
-- School Library Journal (August 2002) (School Library Journal 20020801)

"The book should prove useful for research papers or debates. This is a reasoned and relatively neutral treatment."
-- School Library Journal (July 2002) (School Library Journal 20020701)

"Contributors include doctors, psychiatrists, and members of activist groups...Arguments, which are accompanied by references are well presented and occasionally quite riveting. Lots of opinion and information worth further examination."
-- Booklist (June 2002) (Booklist 20020615)

"A wealth of diagrams and illustrations helps clarify the procedures and principles essential to understanding the discussions."
-- School Library Journal (June 2002) (School Library Journal 20020601)

"Throughout this text keeps arguments even-tempered, information straightforward, and details unsensationalized."
-- Booklist (May 2002) (Booklist 20020515)

"Greenhaven's anthologies provide pertinent, original source material for researchers who are interested in varied perpectives on controversial topics. Most middle and high school libraries have books in their collections that deal with these issues, but few do so in such a clearly differentiatied, balanced manner. These slim volumes...complement and balance books that purport to deal with the topics in general or that present only one viewpoint. Recommended."
-- The Book Report (March-April 2002) (Book Report 20020401)

"Among the books many strengths is its inclusion of diverse, opinionated essayists who come from many professions and have varying expertise."
-- Booklist (April 2001) (Booklist 20010401)

"For readers who prefer to know both sides of a perspective, Greenhaven Press presents a new series - At Issue. Experts offer their opinions on controversial subjects facing our society today. The At Issue series is for the discerning reader. If you want to be well versed and understanding on a specific topic, this series will open your mind on the many sides of an issue."
-- Eclectic Book Reviews (January-April 2001) (UNKNOWN 20010401)

"Collection of starkly personal essays...First person accounts then take readers on some startling and intimate journeys. A few essays are more analytical...Some are impassioned views...In all cases, the writers include vivid details and some eye-opening viewpoints."
-- Booklist (March 2001) (Booklist 20010315)

From School Library Journal:

Gr 10 Up--Eleven essays by physicians, lawyers, bioethics experts, and even philosophers contribute to this emotionally charged debate. From an interview with "Dr. Death" Jack Kevorkian in 1994 to an amicus curiae brief filed in 1997, the sources included are at the heart of the current controversy. Those in favor of physician-assisted suicide cite unbearable suffering and loss of dignity and of control over bodily functions as reasons for allowing this practice. Those against it describe the abuses possible when strict guidelines are subverted as in the Netherlands and Nazi Germany. Most of the selections are just a few pages long and to the point. The longest and densest section is the brief promoting physician-assisted suicide as a constitutional right. More detailed study of factors related to terminal care and euthanasia is supported with case studies and statistics in Alison Landes's Death & Dying (Information Plus, 1996). Sunni Bloyd's Euthanasia (Lucent, 1995) presents the issues in a more inviting, illustrated format. The unique information offered by Physician-Assisted Suicide is the June 1997 Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of the "right to die" with a physician's aid and Oregon's legalization of assisted suicide in 1994 and reaffirmation in the fall of 1997 after legal challenges. Only 3 out of 14 organizations for which contact information is appended promote assisted suicide. The numerous books and periodical articles in the bibliography were published between 1992 and 1998, making them readily accessible sources.

Ann G. Brouse, Big Flats Branch Library, NY

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