Mortal Lessons

by Richard Selzer

Book Overview

In this collection of nineteen unforgettable essays, Dr. Selzer describes unsparingly the surgeon's art. Both moving and perversely funny, Mortal Lessons is an established classic that considers not only the workings and misworkings of the human body but also the meaning of life and death. With a Preface written by the Author especially for this edition.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0156004003
• ISBN13: 9780156004008
• Release Date: April 1996
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Lessons of our own mortality and the human condition

Richard Selzer's book "Mortal Lessons" is only one of the masterpieces that has come from this brilliant writer over the decades. One does not read this book, one experiences life through the book. Richard writes of loves, longing, pain, endurance, and surprise. He allows us entry into the most private experiences he has shared. His writing flows like water in a brook. He is erudite, wise, and introspective. His writing is poetry. His essays are often hilarious as he takes it upon himself to put the human condition into words. All of Richard Selzer's books are works of art, painstakingly well written and perfect in their prose.

Beautiful book

I loved this book. Selzer writes about medicine as an art. He can express in words how amazing medicine and the human body truly is. He combines his love for writing with his love for surgery. I wouldn't be surprised if it was his essays alone that got him into medical school!!! I recommend this to anybody fascinated by medicine.

Inspires both awe and laughter

As a fellow surgeon with a love for literature and the marvels of the human body, I found Dr. Selzer's book tickled both my fancy and my funnybone. He is enthusiastic for sharing his reverence at the amazing complexity and function of our bodies (as well as its grievous shortcomings), yet he is still able to regale the reader with mischievous humor and steady doses of comic relief. I found this one of the funniest books I had read in several years. Many of the chapters in the last half of the book are not, as the subtitle would suggest, 'notes on the art of surgery'. They deal with things as different as bird watching, abortion, smoking, car sickness, and childhood memories from the classroom. Although they do not supplement the first half of the book with further descriptions about the art of surgery, they do add spice to an already meaty book about ourselves.

Initimate and poetic exploration of the body

Richard Selzer is a surgeon with a poet's ear for language. Even when writing about the liver or amputation of a diabetic foot, Selzer can make the reader see the beauty and the wonder of the body. When I was hospitalized last month, I showed it to my doctor and he too marvelled at the grasp Selzer has of medical facts and good writing.

Gives an intriguing account into the mind of a surgeon.

Selzer's writing is eloquent and graphically realistic at the same time. A true masterpiece, it incorporates vignettes and facts to give the reader a sense of what a surgeons job really is. Selzer uses elevated language and florid diction to give the reader somewhat of a mental workout. This book is so hard to put down because his stories of oddities and disorders are so intriguing. Selzer uses many metaphors to convey his message about the inner workings of the human body. He shows the reader that the inside is beautiful as well. Mortal Lessons is an extremely fascinating book that deserves a thumbs up and four stars! I disagree with Selzer's view of smoking which he says is a beautiful and addicting thing. I think he should have written about what smoking does to the body instead of condoning its use. In the chapter Abortion, Selzer evoked many emotions in me for the lost fetuses. It was very interesting to know the procedure of an abortion. Also the procedure for an autopsy, embalm