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DISSECTING AMERICAN HEALTH CARE

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In this collection of essays, a former assistant surgeon general examines virtually every major issue in contemporary health care and U.S. public health policy.

Kamerow (Clinical Family Medicine/Georgetown University) draws on his experience as a family doctor and preventive health specialist for 20 years with the U.S. Public Health Service to address research funding, regulation, screening and immunization, health care delivery, system reform and medical ethics. The book consists of 37 columns that appeared in the BMJ (British Medical Journal) and 10 three-minute radio commentaries for National Public Radio from early 2007 to mid-2011. Each is short and of nearly equal length, risking a mechanical pace. Kamerow softens this effect and achieves some flow from essay to essay by organizing them thematically. Topics run the gamut from grim—keeping semiautomatic weapons out of the hands of the mentally ill—to lighthearted—debunking holiday medical myths. A few added footnotes explain jargon suitable for his original BMJ audience, but the book would have benefited from more. Dissecting sometimes means skewering, as evident in such titles as “How to Waste a Billion Dollars,” “Our Perfectly Designed Health Care System” and “Killing Me Softly” (about the role of doctors in executions). A self-described “bleeding heart liberal,” Kamerow offers a clear point of view without abandoning fairness or engaging in petty partisan sniping. His allegiance to scientific evidence and better health outcomes prompts sharp critiques of presidents Bush and Obama, as well as Pope Benedict XVI. Columnists strive to be topical, so repackaging their work in book form is fraught with risk for timeliness and relevance. This volume succeeds on the strength of Kamerow’s command of the subject and choice of persistent issues. Most of the material, even from 2007, seems remarkably current For anyone interested in health care and its intersection with public policy and politics—and especially for those who like their reading in uniform, premeasured doses—this book fills the prescription.

 

Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2011

ISBN: 978-1934831069

Page Count: 160

Publisher: Research Triangle Institute

Review Posted Online: Oct. 31, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2011

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THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE

50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...

Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.

Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").

Pub Date: May 15, 1972

ISBN: 0205632645

Page Count: 105

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972

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NUTCRACKER

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

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