BRAIN MATTERS: ADVENTURES OF A BRAIN SURGEON: DISPATCHES FROM INSIDE THE SKULL by KATRINA S FIRLIK

by Katrina Firlik

Hardback book.

Genres: Science, Biography, Nonfiction, Medical

290 pages, Hardcover

First published May 11, 2006

About the author

Katrina is a neurosurgeon-turned-entrepreneur. Her first book is Another Day in the Frontal Lobe: A Brain Surgeon Exposes Life on the Inside, published by Random House.

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice easy breezy read. The author describes her profession as 'part scientist, part mechanic.' Other than a few brief diversions, this book mostly focuses on the mechanic aspect of the job: what do you do when someone is wheeled into ER with a gunshot wound or a bump on the head makes their brain swell within the confining space of the skull. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting - I would have liked to have read more about the mental/behavioural effects of alterations to the brain - but I suppose that is more the province of a neuropsychologist. Conversational in tone, this is a readable window into the job of a typical neurosurgeon, though perhaps there is a bit too much preamble before it gets to the 'good stuff.'

This book has since been re-released as Another Day in the Frontal Lobe: A Brain Surgeon Exposes Life on the Inside

[Helen the Bassist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating...just as much about how the USA medical system works as the surgery sometimes!

[Cameron · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book, much like a young medical student not knowing what specialty to pursue, struggles with identity; it cannot decide if it wants to be an autobiography, a presentation on neurosurgical presentations and procedures, or a discussion of neuroscience discoveries and research. Unfortunately, it is a poor amalgamation of all three. Firstly, the autobiography portion of the book is long-winded (essentially the first 9 chapters) and full of what is essentially self-felatio for neurosurgeons and other highly specialised doctors. She states that the field of neurosurgery is akin to a rich Scandinavian country “small but elite” whilst other doctors are more like “Sudan, larger but economically poorer”. She goes on to compare different medical specialties with foods: specialists have the most flavourful dishes, whilst internists are left with the bland staples like rice. Her heightened sense of self-worth is demonstrated best in the statement “I valued the notion of serving the public but couldn’t get excited about treating high blood pressure day in and day out” which is certainly rich considering it is the doctors who treat hypertension day in and day out which prevent the strokes and clots which her own specialty largely revolves around.
She comments on the remarkable book by Dr Oliver Sachs “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat”, (full of incredibly interesting neurological case studies, each unique and captivating in its own way), stating that many of her colleagues described Dr Sachs as a good storyteller but an average neurologist. She says that this judgement is “cruel and unfair” as they do not know him personally. I find this ironic, as she makes her own cruel and unfair statements about other specialties without every having worked in them herself.
The cases that Dr Firlik presents are fascinating but marred by their brevity; complex cases summed up from presentation to outcome in a single page or two. Unlike Dr Sach’s books, which spend an entire chapter per patient, Dr Firlik glosses over each case. Some of the time these patients were discussed to progress the story of the book, but many times they felt like a late addition, an afterthought which made me wonder what their purpose was.
Lastly, Dr Firlik stated in the beginning of the book that part of her reason in becoming a neurosurgeon was her passion about learning how the brain worked. Specifically, not just the motor and sensory pathways, but the actual connections which make us human, which form our personalities and conduct our highest functions. There is nothing in this book that reflects this so-called passion, there are some philosophical questions posed, some mention of studies, but no real discussion nor answers to anything which is brought up.
All in all, this book feels like it is trying to do too much all at once, in doing so it fails to bring anything new to the world of medicine, the autobiography is far too uninteresting and long-winded, the case studies are too brief, and the philosophical discussion barely scratches the surface of what makes us human.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

There might be some interesting medical content in this book but I wouldn't know, as I abandoned it half way through due to the wildly arrogant and hugely self-satisfied manner of the writer. By page 70 she had managed to shit on the idea of anyone bringing up any sexist behaviour they had suffered, mock the concept of government-healthcare, bring up political correctness as a negative, mention her husband about twenty fucking times, reveal her internalised misogyny and show an insane and overwhelming contempt for everyone she considered "underneath" her. With no trace of irony whatsoever she mentioned a surgeon who had written a book out himself; this is a book so much about the writer and about little other than how much kudos she deserves and how nurses and patients make her life even harder. There was half a page on guinea-worm disease and honestly that was the highlight.

[Bh · Rating 2 out of 5]

In comparison to the two other neurosurgical memoirs I have read by accomplished neurosurgeons I'm afraid this comes across as showy,hubristic and juvenile. She redeems herself somewhat in the 11th and 12th chapters where she manages some more in depth reflection on what it means to handle the organ that makes us human and how to deal with life and death. I found this disappointing and in some parts embarrassing - overusing the term 'neurosurgeon' to remind us (as if we could forget) how important she is. Like in Grey's Anatomy when someone says 'I'm a doctor I save lives' - no one in the real world says these things.
Read Do No Harm by Henry Marsh instead.

[Juli]

Very readable & informative!