The Blood of Strangers: True Stories from the Emergency Room

(Paperback)

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Description

A haunting and exquisitely-observed collection of medical vignettes that brilliantly captures the intense drama of the Emergency Room
Reminiscent of Chekhovs stories, The Blood of Strangers is a visceral portrayal of a physicians encounters with the highly charged world of an emergency room. In this collection of spare elegant stories, Dr Frank Huyler reveals a side of medicine the intricacy of suturing a facial wound, the bath a patient receives from her husband and daughter interwoven with the lives of the sick and injured. The author presents an array of fascinating characters, both patients and doctors a neurosurgeon who practices witchcraft, a trauma surgeon who unexpectedly commits suicide, a wounded murderer, a man chased across the New Mexico desert by a heat-seaking missile. At times surreal, at times lyrical, at times brutal and terrifying, The Blood of Strangers is a deeply affecting first book from one of the most dramatic specialities of modern medicine.

Reviews

'Unforgettable.' Sunday Times 'Set to become a classic.' Independent 'A breathtakingly brilliant portrait, sketched so elegantly that if it were done in pencil it would only consist of a few sharp lines.' The Times 'One of the best writers to emerge since the death of Raymond Carver. He moves medicine out of the realm of science and into the domain of humanity.' Red 'Dr Huyler's short, intense book treats of only the most important matters: life and death. This is a young writer with a big mind and an even bigger heart.' Paul Auster 'If Raymond Carver had been a doctor, these are the stories he would have written. There are no untarnished heroes here. This is the world as it is: lovely and disturbing all at once.' Atul Gawande, New Yorker

Author Bio

Frank Huyler is an emergency physician in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His poetry has appeared in various journals and magazines in America. He is 33.