The Doctor Stories

by Richard Selzer

A collection of short stories exploring what it means to tend to the sick and dying includes "Avalanche," "Whither thou goest," "The Masked Marvel's last toehold," "Pages from a wound dresser's diary," and "Poe's lighthouse"

Genres: Short Stories, Medicine, Medical, Fiction

389 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Elizabeth Nesbit-comer]

could not finish. was not actually doctor stories.

[Jennifer]

I read more than half the stories (there are a couple dozen in all) in this collection and couldn't really muster the energy to continue. I read his story/essay "Imelda" in the Norton Anthology of Contemporary Non-Fiction and enjoyed that and though I might gain a lot from his collection since I'm intrigued by medicine. But his writing just isn't my style. His stories tend to be somewhat long and overdrawn and the narrator's not too intriguing or differentiated. A lot of eloquent language and stream of consciousness but not as much content as I'd like and intriguing characters. Perhaps I'll delve into his other stuff at a later time.

[Lisa Gray]

Richard Selzer deserves a lot more fame than he apparently has. His writing is beautiful, glorious, poetic. Alas, I'm just not a big fan of short stories. I struggle through even the best of collections. I need to be in the MIDDLE of something in order to be compelled to go back to it during my busy life. Finishing one of the short stories is like being done - I have a hard time getting back to it. Anyway, Selzer is/was a medical doctor and the theme that ties all the stories together is a medical theme. The stories themselves are great - and you'll love this book if you love medicine and short stories.

[Brian]

Selzer captures the essence of human drama both medical and non-medical in his true and fictional collection of short stories. He challenges the modern conception of the role of a doctor as a person in a white coat that diagnoses and prescribes. Instead, he suggests all sentient beings serve as doctors to one another in times of pain and need.

[Sue]

I did not care for the writing style.

Author or editor, someone crunched three sentences into one, then threw in fancy words. Made reading the stuff very convoluted.

Clear writing, like clear handwriting, that's the key. Maybe even some humor to go along.

[Catherine]

I feel like this book will never end.

[Marian Kaye]

Selzer would say there is always room for improvement. I gave a few of his books to my grandson who is a student at Mayo Clinic.