Readers won’t find miracles but rather a sensitive doctor who writes well about an ongoing epidemic.
A physician who focuses on pain management illuminates his specialty.
After a chapter describing the nervous system and another on the history of pain relief—opium has been around since prehistory—British anesthesiologist Lalkhen takes up pain as experienced by patients and dealt with by doctors. The author makes it clear that both could use further education on the subject, which is undeniably complex. A sprained ankle is agonizing while soldiers suffering gruesome battle injuries sometimes feel little pain. In Chinese and Korean cultures, it’s often considered shameful to complain during childbirth, and few women receive analgesics; other cultures insist on “a more vocal response.” While it may be understandable for a patient to not fully comprehend the social and psychological factors that influence pain as much as the physical damage, it’s inexcusable for a doctor. New analgesic drugs have been appearing for more than two centuries, beginning with morphine in 1804. Although many surgeons remain casual about postoperative pain, the treatment of short-term pain remains straightforward. Chronic pain, however, is another story; sometimes it persists after the injury heals. In most cases of chronic back pain, neck pain, neuropathy, and even arthritis and in syndromes such as fibromyalgia, there is no injury and nothing to be “fixed”—but there are numerous ways to help. Sadly, many doctors continue to use procedures—e.g., surgery or nerve injections—that rarely work and prescribe drugs that produce side effects and addiction without relieving much pain. Lalkhen describes his multidisciplinary clinic, where doctors work with physiotherapists, nurses, psychologists, dieticians, and even alternative healers to help sufferers who often arrive addicted and desperate after undergoing repeated failed procedures. The author emphasizes that chronic pain is not curable, but a collaborative approach in which patients actively participate improves quality of life, self-confidence, and the ability to move, function, and return to work.
Readers won’t find miracles but rather a sensitive doctor who writes well about an ongoing epidemic.Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-982160-98-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2020
Alternately admiring and critical, unvarnished, and a closely detailed account of a troubled innovator.
A warts-and-all portrait of the famed techno-entrepreneur—and the warts are nearly beyond counting.
To call Elon Musk (b. 1971) “mercurial” is to undervalue the term; to call him a genius is incorrect. Instead, Musk has a gift for leveraging the genius of others in order to make things work. When they don’t, writes eminent biographer Isaacson, it’s because the notoriously headstrong Musk is so sure of himself that he charges ahead against the advice of others: “He does not like to share power.” In this sharp-edged biography, the author likens Musk to an earlier biographical subject, Steve Jobs. Given Musk’s recent political turn, born of the me-first libertarianism of the very rich, however, Henry Ford also comes to mind. What emerges clearly is that Musk, who may or may not have Asperger’s syndrome (“Empathy did not come naturally”), has nurtured several obsessions for years, apart from a passion for the letter X as both a brand and personal name. He firmly believes that “all requirements should be treated as recommendations”; that it is his destiny to make humankind a multi-planetary civilization through innovations in space travel; that government is generally an impediment and that “the thought police are gaining power”; and that “a maniacal sense of urgency” should guide his businesses. That need for speed has led to undeniable successes in beating schedules and competitors, but it has also wrought disaster: One of the most telling anecdotes in the book concerns Musk’s “demon mode” order to relocate thousands of Twitter servers from Sacramento to Portland at breakneck speed, which trashed big parts of the system for months. To judge by Isaacson’s account, that may have been by design, for Musk’s idea of creative destruction seems to mean mostly chaos.
Alternately admiring and critical, unvarnished, and a closely detailed account of a troubled innovator.Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9781982181284
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
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BOOK TO SCREEN
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.
The chef, rapper, and TV host serves up a blustery memoir with lashings of self-help.
“I’ve always had a sick confidence,” writes Bronson, ne Ariyan Arslani. The confidence, he adds, comes from numerous sources: being a New Yorker, and more specifically a New Yorker from Queens; being “short and fucking husky” and still game for a standoff on the basketball court; having strength, stamina, and seemingly no fear. All these things serve him well in the rough-and-tumble youth he describes, all stickball and steroids. Yet another confidence-builder: In the big city, you’ve got to sink or swim. “No one is just accepted—you have to fucking show that you’re able to roll,” he writes. In a narrative steeped in language that would make Lenny Bruce blush, Bronson recounts his sentimental education, schooled by immigrant Italian and Albanian family members and the mean streets, building habits good and bad. The virtue of those habits will depend on your take on modern mores. Bronson writes, for example, of “getting my dick pierced” down in the West Village, then grabbing a pizza and smoking weed. “I always smoke weed freely, always have and always will,” he writes. “I’ll just light a blunt anywhere.” Though he’s gone through the classic experiences of the latter-day stoner, flunking out and getting arrested numerous times, Bronson is a hard charger who’s not afraid to face nearly any challenge—especially, given his physique and genes, the necessity of losing weight: “If you’re husky, you’re always dieting in your mind,” he writes. Though vulgar and boastful, Bronson serves up a model that has plenty of good points, including his growing interest in nature, creativity, and the desire to “leave a legacy for everybody.”
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4478-5
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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