{"product_id":"9780312427658","title":"Better : A Surgeon's Notes on Performance","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eBetter\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Atul Gawande\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNATIONAL BESTSELLER\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eBeing Mortal\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eComplications\u003c\/i\u003e examines, in riveting accounts of medical failure and triumph, how success is achieved in a complex and risk-filled profession\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe struggle to perform well is universal: each one of us faces fatigue, limited resources, and imperfect abilities in whatever we do. But nowhere is this drive to do better more important than in medicine, where lives are on the line with every decision. In this book, Atul Gawande explores how doctors strive to close the gap between best intentions and best performance in the face of obstacles that sometimes seem insurmountable.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGawande's gripping stories of diligence, ingenuity, and what it means to do right by people take us to battlefield surgical tents in Iraq, to labor and delivery rooms in Boston, to a polio outbreak in India, and to malpractice courtrooms around the country. He discusses the ethical dilemmas of doctors' participation in lethal injections, examines the influence of money on modern medicine, and recounts the astoundingly contentious history of hand washing. And as in all his writing, Gawande gives us an inside look at his own life as a practicing surgeon, offering a searingly honest firsthand account of work in a field where mistakes are both unavoidable and unthinkable.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt once unflinching and compassionate, \u003ci\u003eBetter\u003c\/i\u003e is an exhilarating journey narrated by \"arguably the best nonfiction doctor-writer around\" (\u003ci\u003eSalon\u003c\/i\u003e). Gawande's investigation into medical professionals and how they progress from merely good to great provides rare insight into the elements of success, illuminating every area of human endeavor.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"Better \u003c\/i\u003eis a masterpiece, a series of stories set inside the four walls of a hospital that end up telling us something unforgettable about the world outside.” —Malcolm Gladwell, author of \u003ci\u003eTalking to Strangers\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Atul Gawande's insightful book illuminates the challenging choices members of the profession face every day.” —Susan Salter Reynolds,\u003ci\u003e Los Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Remarkably honest and human accounts . . . describing professional moments of fear, guilt, embarrassment, and humor . . . Rich in fascinating detail.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“It's hard to think of a writer working today who makes such good use of man's quest to avoid pain and death. Atul Gawande is not only adding to the small shelf of books by doctors that every layman should read. He's using medicine to help anyone who hopes to do anything better.” —Michael Lewis, author of\u003ci\u003e The Blind Side\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Gawande . . . manages to capture medicine in all of its complex and chaotic glory, and to put it, still squirming with life, down on the page. . . . With this book Gawande inspires all of us, doctor or not, to be better.” —Pauline W. Chen, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Gawande is unassuming in every way, and yet his prose is infused with steadfast determination and hope. If society is the patient here, I can't think of a better guy to have our back.” —Gail Caldwell,\u003ci\u003e The Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This is a book about failure: how it happens, how we learn from it, how we can do better. Although its focus is medicine, its message is for everybody. . . . It has already been described as a modern masterpiece—and so it is.” —Jeremy Lawrence, \u003ci\u003eThe Independent (UK)\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eBetter\u003c\/i\u003e is a mesmerizing book with fascinations on every page, told with mastery, insight, compassion, and humility by a surgeon who doesn't flinch from taboo subjects or self-examination. . . . On every page, one meets a candid and thoughtful man, who pays close attention, and who somehow manages to find the right balance between intimacy and respectfulness, in a world that can be inhospitable to both.” —Diane Ackerman, author of \u003ci\u003eAn Alchemy of Mind\u003c\/i\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I found I had been gripping the book so hard that my fingers hurt. . . . It calls to mind one of the great classics of medical literature, Mikhail Bulgakov's \u003ci\u003eA Country Doctor's Notebook\u003c\/i\u003e. Few modern authors could stand that comparison, but Gawande can.” —John Carey,\u003ci\u003e The Sunday Times (UK)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLong-listed Audible.com Best of the Year (2007)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9780312427658\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Picador","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40652368216270,"sku":"9780312427658","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_17fd205c-693f-4770-8445-7d7e73d62dc2.jpg?v=1639277985","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9780312427658","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}