Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam

Stupid dog. I'm sitting on my mother's front porch watching a neighbour's dog tempt fate by running back and forth across the street, narrowly avoiding oncoming traffic and its owner who keeps yelling, "Buddy!" Apparently this is a common occurrence and I'm finding it way too stressful. More on that later.

So, I finished another book. Weird how I feel more productive the more books I read and this one was a Giller prize winner. Not one of my pulp or graphic novels I can get through in a day. That being said it wasn't a difficult read or boring or weird in a Canadian literature sort of way. Weird, eh?

This book is a compilation of short stories about the medical experience, told from the point of view of a half a dozen doctors, starting from pre-med and the pressure to get into med school to the frustrations of the job. Since the author is also a doctor, I was a little afraid that the characters would be portrayed more on the heroic or martyred end of the spectrum like you find on bad television medical melodrama. That wasn't the case. Some of the doctors are jerks and some not-so-much of a jerk, basically human.

The fun part was finding out stuff I had noticed before, thought was weird, and now have an explanation for it. As in, I've spotted doctors coming in the patient's room during their rounds and take a seat. Are they tired? Didn't get enough sleep the night before? Turns out this gives the patient a sense of time spent and it is taught early. Unfortunately, I just know that if I find myself in a hospital and the doc takes a seat at the edge of the bed or nearby chair, I'll get a little giggly and that will earn me an extra day's stay for a psych evaluation. And to be honest, that just sounds easier than trying to explain what is going on it my wacky head.

Another interesting point, they put a glossary of terms in the back of the book but there wasn't a time when I thought that I didn't understand something. Must be a sure sign that I've watched way too much tv.

Anyway, this was a good book. Glad I read it, even if things didn't roll where I would have wanted them to.

As for the dog, the poor thing has been captured after about an hour of playing chase in the neighbourhood; score another point for that dog's guardian angel. I was sure a couple squealed tire sounds was going to mean that it was a goner for sure.