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ETHICS ON CALL

Name: ETHICS ON CALL
Author: Nancy Dubler
ISBN: 0-517-58399-2

A MEDICAL ETHICIST SHOWS HOW TO TAKE CHARGE OF LIFE-AND-DEATH CHOICES

by Nancy Dubler & David Nimmons ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1992

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A practical primer on how to safeguard your right to make your own decisions about medical care. With the assistance of health-writer Nimmons, Dubler, a Harvard-trained lawyer and clinical ethicist at N.Y.C.'s Montefiore Medical Center, shares her knowledge of how hospitals operate and what powerful forces influence health-care decisions today. To avoid dependency on ``the uncertain kindness of strangers,'' she recommends that patients use the procedure developed by her ``ethics SWAT team'' to help resolve issues: first, clarify the medical facts; next, find out the possible options and their consequences; then, understand how the options fit one's own personal values. Ideally, decisions are made by the patient, but, as Dubler stresses, in the real world of modern medicine this is often not the case. In fact, life-and-death decisions may be made by concerned but uncertain and confused family members, by professional caregivers whose priorities are not the same as those of the patient, or even by courts and bureaucrats. The issues in many of the case studies Dubler describes are familiar—the right to refuse care, the right to die, the rights of parents over the care of their children, the right of access to scarce resources, such as organs for transplant or beds in an ICU—but Dubler presents them with a rare clarity. A staunch advocate of planning, she offers suggestions on how to gather needed information, how to examine your values with the help of a value-history form, how to document wishes in a living will and a videotape, and how to designate a proxy decision-maker. A superb guidebook to issues most of us would rather not think about—but should.

Pub Date: May 1, 1992

ISBN: 0-517-58399-2

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Harmony

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1992

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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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.