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A History of the Present Illness

by Louise Aronson (Goodreads Author)

3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 · rating details · 63 ratings · 20 reviews

A History of the Present Illness takes readers into overlooked lives in the neighborhoods, hospitals, and nursing homes of San Francisco, offering a deeply humane and incisive portrait of health and illness in America today. An elderly Chinese immigrant sacrifices his demented wife's well-being to his son's authority. A busy Latina physician's eldest daughter's need for mo...more

Hardcover, 259 pages

Published January 22nd 2013 by Bloomsbury USA

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Oct 10, 2012 Jennifer D. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-books, arc, short-stories

this author makes me so jealous/envious -- harvard MD. AND MFA. AND she lives in san francisco!? AND is generally awesome and wins writing prizes!? *sigh*

Louise Aronson has an MFA from Warren Wilson College and an MD from Harvard. She has received the Sonora Review prize, the New Millennium short fiction award, and three Pushcart nominations. Her fiction has appeared in Bellevue Literary Review and the Literary Review, among other publications. She is an associate professor of medicine at UCSF,...more

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Dec 05, 2012 Joy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Every one of the sixteen short stories in this interlocked collection is an exquisitely etched jewel. Set in the SF Bay area in various medical care facilities they bring us characters experiencing health crisis and their families and care givers with the aggregate effect shining a spotlight on the state of the American health care industry.

Every story is unique, varying in style, tone, length, voice, tempo and form. From the intergenerational family (made-for-TV-move?) drama in 'Heart Failure'...more Every one of the sixteen short stories in this interlocked collection is an exquisitely etched jewel. Set in the SF Bay area in various medical care facilities they bring us characters experiencing health crisis and their families and care givers with the aggregate effect shining a spotlight on the state of the American health care industry.

Every story is unique, varying in style, tone, length, voice, tempo and form. From the intergenerational family (made-for-TV-move?) drama in 'Heart Failure', to the list of facts in '25 Things I Know About My Mother-in-Law', to the heavily (neurotically?) footnoted memo sent by one psychiatrist to the psychiatrists chairing the panel working on the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders advocating for inclusion of a new subset of boundary disorders in 'Blurred Boundary Disorder' and whether attempting the objectivity of a camera in 'Snapshots from an Institution' or the intimate inner experience of an Iraq vet amputee in 'After' or the unreliable narrator in 'Lucky You' Aronson's stories open our heart and consciousness to the human condition and the modern surrealistic state of affairs in America's medical care institutions.

as posted at Joystory
By drawing her characters with such observational skill and empathy she gives us back the original meaning of the word 'caring' currently so distorted by the mechanized, bureaucratized, politicized, and profitized health care industry. This book should be required reading for every first year med student and every legislator at both state and federal level. The stories in this book and stories like them should become the underpinning of any further national discussion about health care legislation.

My favorite story is probably the last one, 'A Medical Story', which is itself a musing on the definition of 'story' and blurs the boundaries between story narrator and author and confesses the origin of all the stories in actual events lived or learned of by the author. This also blurs the boundaries between genre making it hard to place the book solidly in either the NF or fiction categories since only names and certain details were changed to protect the privacy of families and individuals. And yet tho rooted solidly in actual events these stories are crafted like literary stories designed to elicit that inner 'ah' of awe and the collection arranged to emphasize their meaning--a meaning that cannot be stated any more succinctly. By taking these true stories and climbing into the hearts and heads of their actors with her informed imagination and arranging the action to emphasize meaning Aronson gives us fiction that is truer than fact and stories that will live in our hearts and inform our conscience.(less)

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Oct 24, 2012 Rosina Lippi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: netgalley, reviewed-here

Aronson is an MD who completed the strenuous Warren Wilson part-time MFA program; she is a close observer of the human condition, empathetic without drama, perceptive to an almost painful degree.

All the stories in this collection (her first publication) grow out of the experiences of patients, families of patients, medical caregivers and their families. Others have done this -- and done it well -- but Aronson's work stands out specifically for the insight into the lives of women who take up med...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars

See my full review here: http://booksaremyfavouriteandbest.wor...

I’ve got a couple of friends who are nurses and doctors. Two have them have worked in the emergency department of a major city hospital in Melbourne. They have the BEST dinner party stories.

I wonder if Louise Aronson, a doctor and an author, wrote A History of the Present Illness at the prompting of her friends? Maybe not – her collection of interlinked short stories are a brilliant mix of the delicate, hard-hitting, personal and c...more

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Feb 23, 2013 Jaime rated it 2 of 5 stars

I won this in a Goodreads giveaway.

Aronson has compiled stories based on real events she's witnessed over her years in the medical field.
The first third of the stories were interesting, entertaining, and even adorable. They tugged at my heart and made me glad I'm not a doctor or nurse.

But then they started to drag, and I had to push myself to continue reading. There were some good ones interspersed, but mainly I felt that they were bland.

Overall the stories show the life a doctor lives from th...more

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Jan 02, 2013 Tiffin-Seneca Public rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: cm

Aronson holds an MFA and MD, which she puts to very good use in this collection of short stories about the nursing homes and hospitals in the San Francisco area. I was intrigued when I heard about this book, but a bit trepidacious with it being about medical issues. Fear not as Aronson writes with beautiful clarity and focuses on the human struggle of patients as well as doctors and nurses. I particularly enjoyed "Becoming a Doctor", "Vital Signs Stable" and "The Promise". This is both hopeful a...more

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Feb 18, 2013 Zackary Berger rated it 5 of 5 stars

What is the difference between a mere anecdote and a story? Can stories ever heal, and can a story with a naturally happy ending be as effective as a literary tragedy which seems to end in the middle, with purposeful suddenness? And what happens when the narrator is not a disembodied voice, but someone who has to deal with the people behind the tales they tell, who is supposed to help those behind the story when the book is shut?

Read my full review here:
http://zackarysholemberger.com/2013/0...

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Mar 16, 2013 Lisa Vegan rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: readers who have ever liked a short story collection; readers who enjoy medical related literature

Shelves: gr-author, san-francisco, short-stories, fiction, biography, non-fiction, science, reviewed, social-culture

I loved this book. The stories are marvelous. They’re exceptional. They’re incredibly deftly written. Each story is a gem, as is the entire narrative.

Though I thoroughly enjoyed the book, it wasn’t a comfort read for me. In fact, all my hypochondriac tendencies and fears about my future health status were activated, but I loved the stories anyway, despite feeling sad, infuriated, and especially really scared at times while reading. It greatly helped that the compassionate nature of the writer c...more I loved this book. The stories are marvelous. They’re exceptional. They’re incredibly deftly written. Each story is a gem, as is the entire narrative.

Though I thoroughly enjoyed the book, it wasn’t a comfort read for me. In fact, all my hypochondriac tendencies and fears about my future health status were activated, but I loved the stories anyway, despite feeling sad, infuriated, and especially really scared at times while reading. It greatly helped that the compassionate nature of the writer continually shines through the pages.

I haven’t enjoyed a short story book as much since I read How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer. Although I’ve always enjoyed reading essays, but my usual preference is to read novels and full-length non-fiction books rather than short stories and books of short stories. However, these are intersecting stories, with characters that sometimes make appearances in different stories. The stories also somehow feel as if they’re part of one story, and in general they do follow a timeline, from young to old, from students to experienced medical doctors. The whole thing worked really well. I thought the stories fit together so well even before I got to the last story, and that last story solidified the job of tying all the stories together.

These stories are published as fiction but all along they read as truth to me, and the last story makes clear that each does have a huge non-fiction component. That’s why this book is on so many of my apparently contradictory shelves.

I love the quote that starts the book: “If you don’t care for obscenity, you don’t care for the truth.” (It’s by Tim O’Brien from How to Tell a War Story. I can’t find that book at Goodreads but I probably wouldn’t add it to my favorite quotes anyway, even though I really like the quote and it definitely fits this book.) One of my big quibbles with medicine, ever since I was aware, from eleven years old on, is the dishonestly. When it comes to medical matters I value honesty above all else. (I recently took a continuing education class about end of life care and was tempted to write a long rant in the feedback section to their contention that what is most important when treating a patient is hope. Not for myself it isn’t; it’s honesty.) I appreciate that she has worked in palliative care.

I loved the San Francisco settings. I could identify most of them and am familiar with some of them. I always enjoy books that I can put on my san-francisco shelf. This book makes wonderful use of the city, its medical facilities but also many other places.

I really appreciated how skillfully the relationships and communications and miscommunications were explored, from cross-cultural, to supervisor-supervisee, doctor-patient, between lovers and between friends, between group members, etc.

As I read these stories I couldn’t help but be aware of the following of my feelings/beliefs: Don't get sick. Don't get disabled. Don't get old if not in perfect health, and be wealthy, not poor. And perhaps: Don’t go into medicine, or be careful it’s your true calling if you do. I have physicians in my family and I’ve watched many in the process of dying, so I’d already thought a great deal about these matters, but reading this book has caused enough of a shift that I think I’ll be looking at death & dying and doctor-patient relationships slightly differently.

I’m always impressed by and frequently enjoy writing by physicians. On the back inside cover of the book, in the bio section, it says that “She is an associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, where she cares for older patients and directs the Northern California Geriatric Education Center and UCSF Medical Humanities.” She probably couldn’t have written this exact book without her medical training and practice, but it reads as a book written by a true writer, and I hope she writes and publishes more work. I’ll read it if she does.(less)

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Jan 18, 2013 Chaitra rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: anthology, short-story-collection, set-in-california, medical-fiction, contemporary-fiction, literary-fiction

I admire short fiction writers. I do not admire any books set in hospitals, because hospitals make me queasy. That said, I enjoyed this book very much, set in several hospitals of San Francisco, all playing into my queasiness.

I think it's the tone that does it. The people in the different stories belong to various social strata/race/health. Aronson gives them all their own voice, while still keeping her narrative tone. She brings her own experience as a doctor, and she personalizes the people t...more

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Jan 22, 2013 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc-are, netgalley-reviews

“In medicine, the ‘history of the present illness’, or HPI, is the critical first portion of the medical note that describes the onset, duration, character, context, and severity of the illness. Basically, it’s the story, and without it, you can’t understand what’s going on with your patient.”

A History of the Present Illness is an extraordinary collection of peripherally linked vignettes that explore the current practice and experience of health care in America.

Insightful, honest and compassion...more
“In medicine, the ‘history of the present illness’, or HPI, is the critical first portion of the medical note that describes the onset, duration, character, context, and severity of the illness. Basically, it’s the story, and without it, you can’t understand what’s going on with your patient.”

A History of the Present Illness is an extraordinary collection of peripherally linked vignettes that explore the current practice and experience of health care in America.

Insightful, honest and compassionate, Aronson, an accomplished practicing physician overlays truth with fiction to illustrate the plight of her colleagues, patients and families as they navigate bureaucracy and illness. Clinical objectivity blurs with humane compassion, triumph with heartbreak in stories of complex, emotional and medical crisis.

There are sixteen stories that cross the boundaries of race, age and gender. Each give a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people within the health care system. Patients like Rodney Brown whose leg aches even though he left it in the desert sand of Afghanistan (After) and doctors like Robert who witness the obscenity of slow death and and are expected to do nothing (Giving Good Death). I found 'An Amercian Problem' almost unbearably sad, it is an indictment of a society who has relinquished the care of its most vulnerable members in favour of balancing the budget, and 'Soup or Sex?' an incredibly touching portrait of a young man fighting with uncommon bravery to be more than his disease. All of the anecdotes are affecting however, inspiring hope and admiration as often as anger and disgust.

A History of The Present Illness is a remarkable read, quietly attesting to the triumphs and failures of the American health care system. Forget what you think you know of medicine from watching Grey's Anatomy or General Hospital. In real life, caring for people is much messier than either show can portray.

Just a note: There was a problem with the formatting of my Kindle ARC edition that I hope is not present in the finished version. Aside from broken sentences, there were no clear separators between the stories and I was thrown a number of times by suddenly finding myself in the midst of a new story. The formatting issues also made 'Blurred Boundary Disorder' particularly difficult to read.

(less)

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Jan 02, 2013 Diane S. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: short-stories

3.5 What a fantastic journey through the medical facilities and nursing homes of San Francisco. Immigrants, the doctors themselves, psychiatrists, their families and wives are all represented in these incredible, related
stories. The characters are everyday people, the prose is very readable and they are all very pertinent in today's medical trials and travails. Enjoyed these short stories very much. ARC from NetGalley.

1 like · like · see review

Mar 15, 2013 Barb Wishnev rated it 5 of 5 stars

A book of stories relating to author's experience and insights of medicine and those who practice it. Stories are thoughtful and interesting, sometimes cynical, and they will stay with you. A definite good read! It will stimulate great discussion at book clubs.
Vegasbarb

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Mar 05, 2013 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Somewhat interesting. I liked some of the stories. I enjoy the medical influence and patient histories but some of the vignettes where too sketchy. The writing seemed to dry or vague or something but the ones I did like I liked a lot so it kind of balanced out.

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Feb 12, 2013 Jodie rated it 5 of 5 stars

I won this through goodreads first reads and I couldn't wait to get it in the mail.
I found "A History of The Present Illness" a remarkable read, showing the triumphs and failures of the American health care system through amazing writing.
This is a MUST READ BOOK

1 like · like · see review

May 07, 2013 Isabel Allende rated it 5 of 5 stars

I was absolutely enthralled by these extraordinary stories and they made me forever scared of hospitals.

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Mar 05, 2013 Louise rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wonderful short stories from her experience as gerontologist in SF. She is a fantastic writer - title is from phrase doctors use I don't think is good title to draw readers in.

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Apr 03, 2013 Brandy King rated it 5 of 5 stars

LOVED this book!

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Mar 01, 2013 Joan Winnek rated it 4 of 5 stars

Collection of interlinked short stories that I enjoyed very much. They are all set in San Francisco and all focus on medical issues, usually from the point of view of a physician.

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Feb 02, 2013 Alicia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

Not quite what I was expecting but that's not a bad thing.

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Apr 17, 2013 Amma rated it 4 of 5 stars

recommended for those close to health care professionals and or patients.

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May 18, 2013 Currer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: doctors-stories, for-work, women-s-experience, short-stories

I always have a hard time with collections of short stories, but there are some great ones here. My favorites are "Blurred Boundary Disorder," "Giving Good Death," "Lucky You" an "A Medical Story."

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May 21, 2013 Tom Rudig rated it 3 of 5 stars

May 19, 2013 Rachel Stern rated it 5 of 5 stars

May 19, 2013 Tatiana rated it 5 of 5 stars

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May 16, 2013 Jaime rated it 3 of 5 stars

May 15, 2013 Jessica marked it as to-read

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About Louise Aronson

Louise Aronson has an MFA in fiction from the Warren Wilson Program for Writers and an MD from Harvard Medical School. She has won the Sonora Review prize, the New Millennium short fiction award and has received three Pushcart nominations. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of California where she cares for diverse, frail older patients and directs the Pathways to Discover...more

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