Mortal Lessons: Notes on the Art of Surgery - Hardcover

Selzer, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0701125586 ISBN 13: 9780701125585

Publisher: Vintage/Ebury (A Division of Random House Group), 1981

Synopsis

In this collection of nineteen unforgettable essays, Dr. Selzer describes unsparingly the surgeonā s art. Both moving and perversely funny, Mortal Lessons is an established classic that considers not only the workings and misworkings of the human body but also the meaning of life and death. With a Preface written by the Author especially for this edition.

About this title

From the Back Cover

In this collection of nineteen unforgettable essays, Dr. Richard Selzer describes unsparingly the surgeon's art, opening up the body to view, one part at a time. Both moving and perversely funny, Mortal Lessons is an established classic that considers not only the workings and misworkings of the human body, but also the meaning of life and death. And although Dr. Selzer's dark humor makes the burgeoning tumors and ulcerations of his essays more bearable, he is frank about the mysterious and dreaded inevitable - the sometime surprise, as he calls it, at the center of surgery: death. Behind his traditional "surgeon's arrogance" the reader will find endearing self-mockery, a very real empathy for his patients, and the ready suggestion that even the surgeon is still very small when he stands before nature.

About the Author

Richard Selzer is a former surgeon and Yale School of Medicine professor. He has received many awards for his writing, including a National Magazine Award, a Pushcart Prize, and a Guggenheim fellowship. He is the author of several collections of stories and essays as well as a memoir. He lives in New Haven, Connecticut.
 

Edition details

• Publisher: Vintage/Ebury (A Division of Random House Group)
• Publication date: 1981
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0701125586
• ISBN 13: 9780701125585
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224