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Jul 02, 2008

Andria rated it:

I think the editors chose wrong, making this book an artificial "day in the life". Time in medicine, whether human or veterinary, is of major concern. How much time does the doctor spend with his patients? How much time is needed for a proper diagnosis? This writing choice, just gets the book and the reader off on the wrong foot. The one thing you want in a doctor and a writer is a sense of trust.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 30, 2008

Matthew rated it:

As I was walking through Borders, during a rare moment of free time from my first year of veterinary school, I stumbled upon this book and bought it without a second thought. A decision I don't regret.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is considering a career in veterinary medicine or who is currently in veterinary school and needs their struggles to be put into perspective. Fear not, for those of you who are animal lovers and may not be knowledgeable about medicine More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jun 22, 2008

Lisa rated it:

I heard an interview with Dr. Trout, a veterinary surgeon with Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in Boston, on NPR a few months ago, and I'm always interested in reading about animals so I couldn't resist buying the book. . . . It took me a month to get through it because, as I read it, I felt like I was at work. I didn't find his story to be very inspiring, but perhaps that's because I work for a veterinary school and am already familiar with the statistics and information he provided. Someone More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 18, 2011

Christine rated it:

This book is debatable for YA. I think it would be a good book because the majority of students might have pets but the story is more of a individual perspective rather than a few stories collaborated together. It definitely gives insight to the veterinary profession. High school ages kids with pets or interest in becoming a vet may enjoy this book most. The book explains a vets journey and his dedication to his patients and their families. If anything it portrays Nick Trout as the ideal ve More...

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Aug 24, 2011

Tabatha rated it:

Read as an audiobook. The reader does an excellent job bringing this story to life.
Since I am a veterinarian the information about the cases isn't foreign and I understand how telling the story of one case leads into the other stories Dr. Trout tells. Truly, this is what "a day in the life is like." For example, every time you see a GDV you immediately reflect back to all the failures of your previous similar cases and the only revisit the successes after that. You instantly More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 16, 2011

Paul rated it:

Dr.Nick Trout is a veterinarian who specializes in emergency surgery. He works at Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston. Angell is one of the largest clinics of this type and is known for its success in treating animals that need help that goes way beyond what your local veterinarian can handle.

This includes treatment for cancer, hip replacements, and organ transplants. Dr. Trout has taken some of his more unique experiences and formulated them into a day in his life at Angell.
More...

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Feb 13, 2011

Scott rated it:

Can I admit something? I picked this book up purely because of the cute dog on the cover. Expecting...James Herriot. Well, it had a bit of that, particularly during a sequence where the author describes his first experience tagging along with the family vet doing his rounds in the countryside. But the book was much more.

Comparisons to House are apt, but inadequate. The book is about the entire process, from diagnosing ailments to comforting a pet's "parents" to the large More...

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Jan 17, 2010

Holly rated it:

Who could walk past this book cover and not pick it up? "Tell Me Where It Hurts" is a memoir, a day in the life of a vet. You think you know, but you have no idea. (I couldn't resist)

The book is laid out as if all the events occurred in one day. The chapters are marked with timestamps in addition to the topic being covered. Within each chapter is the story of an animal that has come to visit Dr. Nick Trout. He tells many other stories within each chapter, covering his entire More...

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Sep 24, 2009

Roxanne rated it:

This is a NYT bestseller about a veterinarian. The writing isn't fantastic, and each chapter is kind of formulaic--the book is set up as a walk through one long day in Dr. Trout's animal hospital, with each chapter progressing further through the day. Chapter begins, Dr. Trout sees a new patient, and something about this patient or its owner reminds him of something in his past--how he became a vet, or the first time he saw a patient like this--or it gives him the opportunity to digress and te More...

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Oct 22, 2010

Jen rated it:

2.5 stars, really... I'm sure my Mom bought this book for my sister while she was still in vet school. I read it because, hey, I like stories about animals and I needed something else to read while I was snowed in and dog-sitting. This book was okay -- enjoyable but not completely engaging. Trout wrote this book in a particular style that I found frustrating, because what I cared about was the ANIMALS, not all the superfluous stuff. Now, a measure of background info, details about the costs of v More...

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Oct 01, 2011

Robin rated it:

Having spent hours in veterinary hospitals with various pets over the years, I am always curious about the lives on the other side of the table - the veterinarians. Their diagnoses are made often solely on observation, because their patients obviously can't communicate verbally about their distress (hence the ironic title.) And so Tell Me Where It Hurts revolves loosely on several different cases Trout, an orthopedic surgical specialist, sees in the course of a day.

Unlike many wo More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 28, 2008

Jocelyn rated it:

Dr. Trout tells of many appointments that focus on the people and the relationship of their pets. Usually a chapter will start with an appointment with a client and their dog or cat, abruptly jumping back in time to other related cases before finishing the starting client's story. This style of layout is a little jarring and the relevance of backflashes isn't always immediately clear. I did enjoy reading how the vet views things from their side of the table.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 25, 2009

Annthelibrarian rated it:

Veterinarian Nick Trout does "a day in the life" of an animal surgeon, and relates interesting cases he's dealt with over his long career.
Trout hits you in the heart first thing with his story
about Sage, the ten-year-old German shepherd who
will die without emergency surgery for a serious
stomach condition. Sage is owned by an older
widowed man who must come to grips with the
possibility of losing his beloved dog. The doctor is
awakened from sleep More...

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Apr 12, 2011

Kathy rated it:

This was an awesome book! Nick Trout is a veterinary surgeon so most of his cases are referrals from other vets or extreme emergency trauma cases. The book covers one day in his life--a long day, beginning with a call in the wee hours of the morning and ending with another call in the wee hours of the next morning. In between the stories of the cases he sees that day, the author delves into the life of a veterinarian in general. He details both the humorous and heart wrenching side of veteri More...

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Mar 01, 2010

Rachel rated it:

More like 4.5 stars...but for the stories, not the book, if that makes sense. :) I think Trout is an excellent storyteller, but I don't know that the fictional "one day" timeline was the way to go. The chapters were clearly separated by topic, and I think the book would have been more effective if it didn't try to stick with a central storyline. There were lots of flashbacks, digressions, anecdotes, stats, etc., making it difficult to remember "the present."

For t More...

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Nov 05, 2009

Christina rated it:

What a wonderful book! I grew up reading and re-reading James Herriott's veterinary stories, so I looked forward to trying out this modern-day vet's tale of emergency animal surgeries. I was not disappointed. He had me laughing and crying with every chapter. It was a fascinating read. I appreciated how, in between the anecdotes, he sprinkled up-to-date facts about the nature of veterinary practice today both in the UK (since he's originally British) and the US. I found that very enlightening. An More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 17, 2008

Deborah rated it:

I was a bit disappointed by this book. The decision to fictionalize the work of several years in one fake day - well, I'm sure you get the vibe that I found it unbelievable & that it took away from the validity of what weren't really all that remarkable cases to me. It also wasn't all that funny. The best I can say about it is that the guy does seem to really love animals.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 13, 2011

Lindsay rated it:

After reading this book, I don't think I would ever get a dog. Those poor things get hurt easily. Yes this is a book about the life of a animal surgeon, but it really seemed like all he did was work on dogs who had cancer or messed up their leg somehow. Even so, it was a very interesting book. He tells stories of different surgeries that he has done on animals (mostly dogs, but a few cats) and he adds in a lot of facts about vets. It's funny to, so don't think its just a sob fest of poor little More...

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Jun 07, 2009

Sandy rated it:

Never judge a book by its cover! I was expecting a warm and fuzzy day-in-the-life-of saga. What I found instead, was a thoughtful, funny and sometimes illuminating look at veterinary medicine, specifically veterinary surgery. Perhaps more importantly though, this was also a book about relationships - between owner and pet, owner and vet, vet and pet.
To be sure, this book is not without its faults. Dr. Trout's writing style is very tangential in nature which often makes it difficult to figu More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jul 27, 2008

Kmsmith rated it:

Paints a fairly accurate picture of Angell Memorial Animal Hospital and the people who work there. Dr. Trout is a fantastic guy (he really does call all animals "Sweetheart" until they give him a good reason not to) and a great doctor. Maybe he's not a fantastic writer, but I admit that I didn't put the book down for two days and cried a few times.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 04, 2008

Amy rated it:

Very wordy. If he would have stuck to the events and not tried to make this into a literary work I would have finished it. I became very bogged down. When he actually talked about the animals and the events, it was enjoyable. Stuck it out for 60 pages and decided to go pay attention to my own dog instead of finishing.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 24, 2008

Allison rated it:

The modern day All Creatures Great and Small, Tell Me Where It Hurts gives a broad understanding of today's veterinary science. Dr. Nick Trout is a wonderful storyteller, and his love of animals and respect for his profession is evident through the pages. Try to only read while your pets are healthy.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 12, 2008

Christina rated it:

I was disappointed by this book. When I picked it up I was hoping for more stories about the animals themselves, their struggles and triumphs. Instead the book is more about Dr. Trout himself and what it takes to be a vet. While that is interesting I think it took up more of the book than I wanted.

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Jul 30, 2009

Joanna rated it:

This was an entertaining read. The individual case histories ranged from absurd to practical to heartwrenching. It did not feel quite as believable as I feel it ought to have, in part perhaps because of the conceit of condensing the encounters to creat the illusion of one day's action. There were also a few moments when he presented a line of dialogue straight, and followed with "of course I didn't really say that." I didn't care for the presentation of "if only I could say wha More...

1 comment like

May 09, 2008

Angi rated it:

I was a little disappointed with this book. He jumped between stories and time lines, going back and forth so much I had to flip back pages constantly to figure out what time period and which patient he was talking about.
But it's still a nice book, albeit confusing.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 01, 2009

Greg rated it:

I chose this to listen to while driving six hours. My family always loves to listen to books about dogs and veterinary medicine medicine, so this is a popular genre for our car trips. Veterinary books deal with medical problems without the same level stress and drama we attach to human health issues. I was pleasantly surprised to discover the depth of feeling that people have for their pets, and how a compassionate doctor can help them make good decisions about treatment. The author borrows a pa More...

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Dec 26, 2008

Melissa rated it:

As a person who works in the veterinary field I found it interesting, but I did find it bland and somewhat difficult to finish. Lots of tangents and somewhat difficult to follow. The last two chapters were the best by far, but I had a hard time getting to them, and almost didn't make it. I still give three stars because it reminds me of my job and I like the animal stories, also kind of interesting to see how far he would take a case and how optimistic he was about a lot of things that had More...

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Aug 01, 2009

Louise rated it:

Dr. Nick Trout is the animal surgeon turned author who wrote Tell Me Where It Hurts. I heard of him through NPR when he was promoting his book a few months ago.Tell Me Where It Hurts follows him through a hectic but not atypical day in his clinic.

Trout is a talented storyteller who balances cold, hard facts like those found in a college biology textbook with rich, florid descriptions of patients and their parents. Sometimes this flows beautifully, but other times it can be quite jar More...

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Feb 02, 2011

Lynn rated it:

After reading Dr. Trout's second book, I decided to read the first based on other's review. I enjoyed the book. The life of an animal surgeon is not an easy life. Besides the animal care you must deal with the owner's as much or not more than the animal. I enjoyed the story of how Dr. Trout became interested in his field. The rewarding points showing that I was not the only person who had searched for the answer to prolong my dog's life, but in retrospect, the first opinion I recieved was pro More...

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Jul 28, 2008

Katie rated it:

I only read the first 110 pages or so, BUT I found the stories to be told in a not funny at all way & I thought the book was very, very boring! Sorry disappointed.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

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