BRAIN SURGEON: An Intimate View of His World

by Lawrence Shainberg ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 28, 1979

Shit,"" he said. ""There go the music lessons."" That may be the quote of the year in medical circles. It's what the ""Boss"" said during surgery to remove a brain tumor when a suction tube inadvertently vacuumed up some normal nerve tissue. Such things happen, even when the best of the prima donnas operates. And, if nothing else, Shainberg's all-names/all-places-changed documentary is a paean of praise for one particular prima donna, living proof that stereotypes are real. Brockman (Boss) is vain, aggressive, arrogant; a workaholic who smokes three packs a day and drinks a couple of quarts of coffee. He is infantile, crude, rude, a stud, and one who finds God/Power/Sex drives almost perfectly fulfilled in the O.R. (There's hardly any surgical procedure that doesn't produce at least a mini-erection.) Even the most hardened journalist might have a time resisting that force. And Shainberg is no rock. He falls under the spell and enjoys what he fancies is Brockman's ""reaching out"" through him. Shainberg is good at the graphics; he empathizes with the patients, describes the hospital hierarchy and politics competently, and, with a few background strokes, does much to allay fear and also glamorize neurosurgery today. But in spite of the excellence of surgeons like Brockman and such vastly improved technologies as CAT-scans and angiography, the sadness of neurosurgery still remains. Many patients are operated on after brain damage; the tumor that can be excised may grow again. What can be said is that intervention carries far less risk and does occasionally effect permanent cures. Not to be outdone by the Boss' persona, Shainberg lets his own psyche emerge in philosophical/psychological musings--tedious takeouts in which he deals with his own mind-brain problem (there-must-be-more-to-life school of thinking). Skip these excursions and skim for the hospital descriptions and high drama--done especially well in the ""musical lessons"" chapter. Enjoy the roman … clef, too. After all, how many 63-year-old five-foot-three-inch brain surgeons on the East Coast can there be?

Pub Date: May 28, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Lippincott

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1979

Categories: NONFICTION