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Biography and MemoirJune 2016
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"In our village and environs, we had no private doctors who made house calls, nor were there clinics close by." ~ from Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa's Becoming Dr. Q
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| Jungle of Stone: The True Story of Two Men, Their Extraordinary Journey, and... by William CarlsenIn 1839, John L. Stephens, U.S. ambassador to Central America, went exploring in the jungles of the Yucatan. Accompanied by British architect Frederick Catherwood, Stephens wanted to verify rumors about stupendous stone ruins. Unlike the legendary El Dorado, however, the 2,000-year-old Mayan structures were real. In Jungle of Stone, author William Carlsen brings Stephens' and Catherwood's personalities to life while recounting their adventures (and his own modern-day quest to retrace their footsteps). Stephens and Catherwood published their accounts in the two-volume Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, which is still in print. |
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| The Vanishing Velázquez: A 19th-Century Bookseller's Obsession with a Lost... by Laura CummingIn The Vanishing Velázquez, art historian Laura Cumming vividly recounts how 19th-century British bookseller John Snare obtained a long-missing portrait of a young Charles I (as Britain's Prince of Wales) and became convinced that the portraitist was the Spanish painter Diego Velázquez. For years, without success, Snare poured his passion, his efforts, and his fortune into proving that Velázquez was the artist. The painting vanished again after Snare's death, leaving a long-unsolved mystery. This absorbing biography encompasses the bookseller's life, fascinating information about Velázquez and 17th-century Spain, and the lingering mystery of the portrait's whereabouts. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly praises Cumming's "spirited and clever narration." |
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| Consequence: A Memoir by Eric FairAuthor Eric Fair served as an interrogator during the Iraq War, including a stint at Abu Ghraib prison. In this "beguiling personal narrative" and "startling debut from a haunted individual" (Kirkus Reviews), Fair relates his remorse about participating in interrogations that included torture. He vividly and insightfully portrays his work as a contractor, the strain on his already weakened heart, and his eventual recovery after returning to the States. Sobering and informative, Consequence offers an unusual close-up of the war that began in 2003. |
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| The Empress of Art: Catherine the Great and the Transformation of Russia by Susan JaquesThe accomplishments of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796, included continuing to modernize and westernize Russia after the model of her predecessor Peter the Great. In The Empress of Art, author Susan Jaques highlights Catherine's impressive legacy as an art patron and collector. A remarkable achievement in this field was the Hermitage, one of the largest and best-known museums in the world. She also commissioned and funded significant architectural projects, making St. Petersburg (then the Russian capital) a showcase for her passion. Emphasizing that Catherine's pursuit of artistic splendor was as competitive and ruthless as her politics, Jaques provides a must-read biography for art history lovers as well as Catherine the Great buffs. |
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| Where the Light Gets In: Losing My Mother Only to Find Her Again by Kimberly Williams-PaisleyActor Kimberly Williams-Paisley (who is married to country singer Brad Paisley) is known for her roles in Father of the Bride and Nashville. Her memoir Where the Light Gets In details her mother's diagnosis with a rare form of dementia, the progress of her illness, and its effects on their family and relationships. This candid and revealing account demonstrates how challenging it can be, both to the patient and to the family, to live with dementia. Though this chronicle can be heartbreaking, it concludes with an encouraging resolution as the family learns to deal with the changes. There's also a helpful appendix of resources for families of dementia patients. |
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Medical Biographies and Memoirs
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| He Wanted the Moon: The Madness and Medical Genius of Dr. Perry Baird... by Mimi Baird with Eve ClaxtonAuthor Mimi Baird lost contact with her father Dr. Perry Baird when she was six, in 1944. She knew only that he was "ill" and wasn't coming home. Dr. Baird suffered from manic-depression; though he was frequently institutionalized and subjected to primitive treatments for years, he cogently recorded observations of his own illness. In He Wanted the Moon, Mimi weaves together excerpts from her father's manuscript with her own recollections, providing a fascinating, if sobering, portrait of psychiatric treatment in a time before the symptoms of mental disorders were better understood. |
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| Living and Dying in Brick City: Stories from the Front Lines of an Inner-City E.R. by Sampson Davis with Lisa Frazier PageNewark, New Jersey native Sampson Davis rose above the challenges of the inner city (as related in The Pact) and became an Emergency Department physician at Newark Beth Israel Hospital. In Living and Dying in Brick City, he combines his autobiography with brief accounts of patients he treated and medical information about their conditions. Emphasizing crime and poverty's health impact on African Americans, he details the effects of gunshot wounds, drug overdoses, sexually transmitted diseases, and lack of access to routine medical exams. Readers who are particularly interested in urban social issues and affordable health care will appreciate this eye-opening look at inner-city medicine. |
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| Doctored: The Disillusionment of an American Physician by Sandeep JauharIn Doctored, Sandeep Jauhar, a cardiologist at Long Island Jewish Hospital in New York, recounts his frustrations as a doctor and his observations on the practice of medicine. In this book, "part memoir and part denunciation of America's current health-care system" (Library Journal), Jauhar raises issues such as the fear of medical malpractice litigation, insurance bureaucracy, and the economics of for-profit medicine. Illustrating his concerns with anecdotes from his experience, he expresses disappointment in his loss of idealism since he entered medical school. Jauhar's memoir offers a thought-provoking analysis of the state of health care in the U.S. |
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| Becoming Dr. Q: My Journey from Migrant Farm Worker to Brain Surgeon by Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa with Mimi Eichler RivasAfter migrating with his family from Mexico to California for a summer's work, author Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa decided that his future lay in the U.S. In a risky move, he climbed the fence between Mexico and California to work at low-paying jobs, learn English, and send money back to his family. Eventually, he earned an associate's degree, then found out that he could go much farther. In this richly detailed memoir, he vividly portrays the poverty of his childhood and the challenges of working his way up the American educational and economic ladder. Booklist, in a starred review, calls Becoming Dr. Q "gripping, inspiring, and just plain awesome." |
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| My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey by Jill Bolte TaylorJill Bolte Taylor, a Boston neuroanatomist, woke up with a severe headache one morning in 1996. Her physical coordination deteriorated, then her vision began to fail. She managed to telephone her office, where her colleagues realized that she was in deep trouble and sent an ambulance. In My Stroke of Insight, Taylor details her treatment for this life-threatening hemorrhagic stroke, her physical and neurological recovery, and her new awareness of her own brain function. This accessible, compelling memoir offers insight into Taylor's rehabilitation from a unique point of view -- that of a patient who is also an expert in her own medical condition. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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West Babylon Public Library 211 Route 109 West Babylon, New York 11704 (631) 669-5445http://wbpl.us |
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