The Knife and Gun Club: Scenes from an Emergency Room

by Eugene Richards

Includes personal revelations of doctors, nurses, and health aides working in emergency rooms, accented by the photographic impressions of the author

Genres: Photography, Medicine, Medical, Nonfiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[A.J. Knauss · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had not thought of this book in a few years and came across some photos in a medical journal yesterday that reminded me of it. I read this when I was a rotating student at Denver General. It is a tough read and many of the photos probably couldn't be taken today due to patient confidentiality rules. The essays attached are poignant and honest and as an ER doc some of the most striking photos are the "aftermath" shots of the rooms littered with the cast off equipment of an attempted resuscitation. Despite working in the ER and publishing an "ER novel" (ROOM FOUR) I don't actually read a lot of "medical memoir" books...a few but not most of what I read. But this book is a must read.

[Catherine Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought and read this book in the early 1990s. I was an EMT and this book brought to life the struggles and horror that waft through an emergency room. This book shows what it is like behind the doors everyone hates waiting to be inside. I highly recommend this book. Remember, the next time you're in an ER and you're upset because you've been there for "hours", one of these scenarios could be why. We don't party and sit on our butts back there...we deal with the results of the streets' knife and gun club.

[Ray Dunsmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

An arresting, viscerally real photojournalistic look into the ER staff of Denver General Hospital in the late 80s. My grandmother was an ER nurse for a time and, from what I've heard, loved this book. It's a gut-wrenchingly accurate view, consisting entirely of candid photographs and firsthand quotes from recordings of procedures and interviews with personnel. Heavily affecting and unflinchingly real.

[nikolae · Rating 5 out of 5]

5. Stories from a different time, and yet nothing has changed.

[Aaron the Pink Donut · Rating 4 out of 5]

a well produced snapshot into the lives of people who work and need treatment in a Denver ER. Great read and Richards photos are top notch!