Nonfiction Spotlight (6/15/22)

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Today’s nonfiction spotlight bring us two memorable stories, from the New York-Presbyterian hospital system during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the fight to save lives, to one surgeon’s breakthroughs in helping soldiers reclaim their lives and their faces after the horrors of World War I.

THE DESPERATE HOURS: ONE HOSPITAL’S FIGHT TO SAVE A CITY ON THE PANDEMIC’S FRONT LINES BY MARIE BRENNER

2 starred reviews!

“An urgent account of how Covid-19 created nearly insurmountable challenges to a famed hospital system… The author’s probing investigation includes animated profiles of a large cast of characters, creating a palpable sense of trauma, pain, and vulnerability in what one cardiologist characterized as nothing less than war. The casualties, Brenner shows, encompassed far more than the patients who died.”–Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Drawing on 200 interviews with doctors, nurses, administrators, and maintenance staff in the NewYork-Presbyterian hospital system, journalist Brenner (APPLES AND ORANGES) paints a fascinating and harrowing portrait of the Covid-19 pandemic in New York City… vividly captures moments of heartbreak and celebration… This is a powerful look at life on the front lines of a pandemic.”–Publishers Weekly, starred review

THE FACEMAKER: A VISIONARY SURGEON’S BATTLE TO MEND THE DISFIGURED SOLDIERS OF WORLD WAR I BY LINDSEY FITZHARRIS

2 starred reviews!

“[An] inspiring, engaging book… The author’s case reports of individual soldiers are not for the faint of heart, but she delivers a consistently vivid account of [Harold Gillies’s] ingenious techniques involving skin flaps, grafting, reconstruction, and prostheses… An excellent biography of a genuine miracle worker.”–Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“A fascinating portrait of pioneering plastic surgeon Harold Gillies and the soldiers whose faces he rebuilt during WWI… Meticulously researched and compulsively readable, this exceptional history showcases how compassion and innovation can help mitigate the terrible wounds of war.”–Publishers Weekly, starred review

THE DESPERATE HOURS: One Hospital’s Fight to Save a City on the Pandemic’s Front Lines by Marie Brenner; 9781250805737; 6/21/22.
THE FACEMAKER: A Visionary Surgeon’s Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I by Lindsey Fitzharris; 9780374282301; available now.

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