A knowing and detailed diagnosis of some of the institutional ills of U.S. medicine.
Kowey presents a collection of case studies illustrating the failures of the U.S. healthcare system.
The author, a physician with decades of experience, here issues a stern warning about his profession, which, he asserts, has been “torn down and thoroughly disrespected by people who have no idea what being a doctor really means” and is consequently in danger of “falling from its lofty place in our society to a job on the assembly line, widgets replaced by patients.” Kowey illustrates these failings with a series of stories about the problems encountered by patients experiencing the whole range of medical treatment, from unexpected ER visits to extended care for prolonged conditions. Each history is presented in great detail, followed by a “Case Explanation” and a “Conclusion” in which the author pinpoints the cause of the problems and offers some potential solutions. Readers learn about a Mrs. Lynch, for instance, who began experiencing an irregular, racing heartbeat and underwent an ablation to cauterize the arrhythmic area. But her atrial fibrillation continued, perhaps prolonged by the ablation itself, and Kowey contends that, given her otherwise young and healthy state, the ablation was “inappropriate.” In the case of 75-year-old Mrs. Lopez, the issues are more interpersonal than medical: The hospital staff is coldly indifferent, her discharge is likely early, and the hospital’s “patient experience specialist” seems more concerned with a good rating than anything else. “It is maddening,” the author writes, “that hospital leaders have chosen to spend money foolishly on administrative salaries, worthless marketing, failed initiatives, and ancillary services that bring little value to the routine care of hospitalized patients.” As the percentage of the U.S. population that can afford health care of any kind rapidly shrinks, readers will find these stories of miscommunication and administrative bloat recognizable, and the author’s professional experience gives them extra heft.
A knowing and detailed diagnosis of some of the institutional ills of U.S. medicine.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781956474695
Page Count: 264
Publisher: Heliotrope Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.
Words that made a nation.
Isaacson is known for expansive biographies of great thinkers (and Elon Musk), but here he pens a succinct, stimulating commentary on the Founding Fathers’ ode to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” His close reading of the Declaration of Independence’s second sentence, published to mark the 250th anniversary of the document’s adoption, doesn’t downplay its “moral contradiction.” Thomas Jefferson enslaved hundreds of people yet called slavery “a cruel war against human nature” in his first draft of the Declaration. All but 15 of the document’s 56 signers owned enslaved people. While the sentence in question asserted “all men are created equal” and possess “unalienable rights,” the Founders “consciously and intentionally” excluded women, Native Americans, and enslaved people. And yet the sentence is powerful, Isaacson writes, because it names a young nation’s “aspirations.” He mounts a solid defense of what ought to be shared goals, among them economic fairness, “moral compassion,” and a willingness to compromise. “Democracy depends on this,” he writes. Isaacson is excellent when explaining how Enlightenment intellectuals abroad influenced the founders. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Declaration’s “five-person drafting committee,” stayed in David Hume’s home for a month in the early 1770s, “discussing ideas of natural rights” with the Scottish philosopher. Also strong is Isaacson’s discussion of the “edits and tweaks” made to Jefferson’s draft. As recommended by Franklin and others, the changes were substantial, leaving Jefferson “distraught.” Franklin, who emerges as the book’s hero, helped establish municipal services, founded a library, and encouraged religious diversity—the kind of civic-mindedness that we could use more of today, Isaacson reminds us.
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781982181314
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
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