Confessions of a Knife

by Richard Selzer

Merging art and religion with science, these largely autobiographical essays delve deeply into the emotional territory of medicine commonly avoided by other writers. This collection, first published in 1979, utilizes the physical body as a means to explore the human mind and soul. Never hesitant to admit his own frailties, Selzer draws on his experiences as a surgeon with integrity and wit, allowing readers a first-hand glimpse into the medical world.

Genres: Medicine, Nonfiction, Short Stories, Memoir, Medical, Essays, Science

223 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Cheyenne Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this a long, long time ago (maybe in the 1980s) and I have never forgotten it.

I have forgotten many books I've read. That this one hangs with me.... well, it makes me want to hunt it down and read it again.

In the meantime, I'm giving it 5 stars for its longevity in my memory.

[Kristin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was hoping this was a book primarily about the author's work as a surgeon, but he went off on so many tangents that I found the book to be more like a hodge-podge of whatever subject he felt like writing about on a given day. The essays that dealt with surgery and working in the hospital were interesting but were few and far between. The others though were quite strange. There was one on the author's religious background that followed at least one other non-medical story and I skipped it all together out of boredom. Another was about working on a Mississippi River boat during the Civil War, an the author's diary of being the doctor on this boat, though clearly fiction as this book was written in the latter half of the 20th century. Towards the end, there's also a tale of being in the Middle East watching a vulture-like bird pick apart a ram then allowing the bird come to pick him apart.
Overall, I just found this book to be too strange and not at all what I was expecting, so I left it behind at the gym when finished. Supposedly Dr. Selzer wrote other books, but I don't care to read any others unless I'd hear from a friend that one was entirely about medicine without the tangents.

[Huw Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book whilst I was training and was enthralled by its beauty and the messages within. It was my first realisation that there were doctors out there who could communicate their ideas without being patronising or paternalistic. Some of his esssays are slightly off centre (e.g. the idea that all pathologists should be coralled and shot, not that i disagree with him) but I am sure there is a tongue firmly in a cheek at the time. There is raw power in each short piece, controlled emotion and a precision with language that you would want him to use in theatre. I have lost my copy and would love to find another to see whether it has the same impact now.

[Emily Hutcheon · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book if you are in to medicine or surgical procedures, however I believe it could be read and enjoyed by someone who just likes heavily descriptive writing. Despite the fact Selzer is a surgeon first and a writer second, his use of metaphor is exquisite and often highly intricate in detail.

[Blake Iverson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read Richard Selzer years ago, in college, and really liked him. I remember appreciating a cold... well, surgical style to his prose.

This time around, it was more of a mixed bag. On the one hand, I actually found his prose to be a little too cute and self-conscious for my taste, a far cry from my recollection. On the other, the themes--death, fragility, uncertainty, the hubris of daily life--aren't as exotic to me in my early thirties as they were when I was twenty. Neutralizing some of the awe around the subject matter helped open it up.

There are strong images in many of the essays here: the exotic fruit of cancer in "Tube Feeding" and the world-replacing sludge filling the thoracic cavity in "Sarcophagus" spring to mind. I even enjoyed the extended metaphor of the January, whose “cargo is typhus,” spewing disease in its wake on the Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers, itself getting sicker all the way, in "Pages From a Wound-Dresser's Diary." I didn't think I would.

Still, just three stars for me. Some day I'll have to read Mortal Lessons for that good antiseptic voice.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Selzer is one of my favorite writers, and this collection doesn’t disappoint. It’s an eclectic mix of stories about his medical practice, boyhood reflections, fiction, medical history, and some other essay types thrown in, all with his remarkable ear for language, powers of observation, wit, and humanity. Highly recommend.
Favorite pieces: “Sarcophagus” (a gripping piece about a difficult patient case; fair warning that it’s graphically bloody), “Pages from a Wound-Dresser’s Diary” (haunting, luminous fiction about caring for injured Civil War soldiers), “Alexis St. Martin” (fascinating medical history about two important figures in the development of gastroenterology), “The Specimen Collectors” (a witty piece ribbing on pathologists).

[Bruce M · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read Letters to a Young Doctor and thought the way Selzer wrote about medicine and the human body was amazing. THis book was in comparison actually quite a disappointment. Despite the title most of the book has nothing to do with medicine but instead short stories on topics such as his first time visiting a catholic church (he's jewish), his thoughts on travel (he disapproves), a short story on an elderly couple living alone on a small island (didn't get it), and recalling the time he went to some kind of WWE brawl-o-rama when he was a kid (he lost me there). When he talks about medicine its amazing and I was engrossed. He didnt' stay to that topic, which is fine, but it wasn't what I wanted, and I never see any other reviews mentioning that. Read LTAYD if you want a medicine only book.

[Glenna Mcneal]

This book is a compilation of stories written by a surgeon. Some are almost unbelievable, but some, such as the story of "Pages from a Wound Dressers Diary," make me appreciate our modern medicine. His story of taking care of wounded soldiers during wartime on a floating hospital where typhoid and TB are rampant in addition to wounds received while fighting. But, his "Travels in Rhineland" is probably the longest, drawn-out story of the olfactory system. I never realized someone could become so enthralled with the sense of smell. Oh, well, it was a truly different kind of book.

[bald · Rating 5 out of 5]

selzer describes all the vivid details of performing surgery the same way someone might describe their lover

[Donn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two of my favorite writers (maybe my most favorite) are not writers by profession. The first, Wallace Stevens, was an insurance adjuster. The second, Richard Selzer, is a surgeon. He is the only writer who has made me truly cringe with a turn of a line. Aside from introductions and forewords elsewhere, this is the first collection of his that I've ventured into.

"Not long ago, operating rooms had windows. It was a boon and a blessing in spite of the occasional fly that managed to strain through the screens and threaten our very sterility. for the adventurous insect drawn to such a ravishing spectacle, a quick swat and, Presto! The door to the next world sprang open. But for us who battled on, there was the benediction of the sky, the applause and reproach of thunder. A Divine consultation crackled in on the lightning! And at night, in Emergency, there was the pomp, the longevity of the stars to deflate the surgeon's ego. It did no patient a disservice to have Heaven looking over his doctor's shoulder. I very much fear that, having bricked up our windows, we have lost more than the breeze; we have severed a celestial connection."

from--An Absence of Windows

[Isis · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mixed bag of essays, memoirs, stories and histories, and the problem with listening to the audio version is that you can't browse around and skip the boring ones. Some of the writing about medicine is so ponderously literary it threatens to collapse under the weight of its own metaphor, but I enjoyed a few of the essays and most particularly the history of Alexis St. Martin and William Beaumont, the 19th century voyageur who suffered an injury that opened a kind of window in his stomach and the doctor obsessed with learning all he could from this.

[Richard Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Selzer is one of the great medical essayists. As a prose stylist, he is even better than Oliver Sachs, and his reflections on illness, health and mortality are deeply felt and thought provoking. Overall this book isn't quite as good as Mortal Lessons, but it is still a good read. Definitely recommended.

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow this guy can write. His style is thick with metaphors for the human body and for illnesses, but he comes across as real and as someone searching for meaning in suffering. Poetic-style. I'm going to have to read his other books.

[Wally · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a second reading of this book after about 25 years. It was as I remembered, exceptionally well written and compelling. Not every story is perfect but there are enough to put this compilation in a short list of short story books that one can really savor.

[Catie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great if you are interested in medical type books- his wiritng style is very unique and sometimes disturbing, but I love these short stories!

[Dmattz]

I picked this book up at a library sale for $0.50! What a find!
I was really captivated by his stories. So much so that I have started reading some of his other works!

[Marian Kaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read more by Selzer.