An easy-to-digest compendium of bioethical issues that provides plenty of food for thought.
How would you act when presented with medical cases that raise serious bioethical concerns?
That is the question Appel (Surrendering Appomattox, 2019, etc.) poses in a series of 79 short takes drawn from news headlines, medical literature, and his own background as a psychiatrist, professor of bioethics, and director of Ethics Education in Psychiatry at Mount Sinai. The author presents each scenario in a succinct paragraph, often using an amusing name for the fictitious doctor—Jekyll, Dolittle, Hawkeye Pierce—followed by a discussion that includes current laws, regulations, or policies, which, he is quick to point out, may be nonexistent or vary from state to state. Then it’s up to readers to ponder what to do. Do you tell the daughter of the father who needs a kidney transplant that not only is she not a match, but that she is not his biological daughter? Do you report to your professional society that your current patient says she slept with her former therapist? What about the corporate executive who has a brain tumor but who tells the world he is in top form when a merger is in the making? Appel notes that bioethical issues have only gotten more complex as technology accelerates—e.g., what to do with the frozen embryos of divorcing couples? End-of-life issues have gotten more complicated, as well. If nothing else, they are a reminder of the importance of establishing advance directives or living wills. Without that guidance, there can be a clash between relatives valuing the sanctity of life over those arguing for the quality of life. The result may be a quadriplegic patient permanently tied to a ventilator. Throughout, Appel’s scenario approach works well, as readers are challenged to weigh the morality of decisions in our increasingly complex medical world.
An easy-to-digest compendium of bioethical issues that provides plenty of food for thought.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-61620-922-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Algonquin
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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