A Doctor's Dictionary: Writings on Culture and Medicine

by Iain Bamforth

In this pithy abecedarium, doctor and poet Iain Bamforth takes a close look at the conflict of values embodied in what we call medicine—never entirely a science and no longer quite the art it used to be. Bamforth brings his wide experience of medicine around the world, from the high-tech American Hospital of Paris to the community health centers of Papua, together with his engaging interest in the stranger manifestations of medical matters in relation to art, literature, and culture—such as the mysterious “Stendhal’s syndrome,” which caused 106 tourists in Florence to be hospitalized due to an overload of sublime Renaissance art.

Genres: Nonfiction, Medicine, Medical, Essays

302 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2015

Reviews

[Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times too detailed and scholarly for those with only a passing interest. But I applaud the thrust of this collection: the many ways in which the medical and the literary / cultural interact and cross-fertilize come to the fore through the sheer variety of articles, ranging from Kafka's thoughts on the medical profession to the sociology of malaria. Highly recommended.