WHAT? DEAD AGAIN?

by Neil Shulman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 28, 1979

Young-Northern-doctor-in-a-small-Alabama-hospital--a less than earth-shattering subject, but done very nicely indeed. Dr. Otis Stone has been scouting around for a residency--nothing too great, but he is a Stanford grad, after all. Then his car breaks down in Grady, Alabama, the cost of repairs taps him out, and so he works up the money during a weekend of emergency-room duties at the local hospital, Trafford Memorial. Carl Hogue, large and imposing and in his late 60s, is Trafford's medical chief; except for a malpractitioner named Lee Bob Parker, he's also Grady's sole doctor to speak of. Otis, then, naturally, is made an offer. Well, his car's still in the shop, and a California residency program is putting him off for a while--so why not? Medicine at Trafford consists of mostly undoing Lee Bob Parker's disasters: he's the fastest pen in the South on a death certificate (hence the title), an eagerness not appreciated when Carl Hogue has a heart attack and is declared bye-bye before he really is. Everyone is, however, waiting for 87-year-old Benbow Hutchinson to shuffle off--he has promised Trafford Memorial a cool two million when he passes, but he stubbornly hangs in there until the last few pages. Likable Otis gently and quickly rocks into the swing of this vaguely insane situation, never above it but never sinking too much into the muck either. You'll stay with Shulman all the way, then, as he avoids the poles of M*A*S*H or Frank Slaughter clich‚s at either side and makes Otis' experience something breezy and friendly unto itself.

Pub Date: Feb. 28, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Legacy (2008 Perkins Rd., Baton Rouge, La. 70808)

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1979

Categories: FICTION