Mark OristanoRezensionen

Surgeon's Story is a very informative Human Interest account of not only a remarkable Surgeon but of the endurance, faith, perseverance, and stamina of those awaiting heart transplants, the large percentage of individuals needing them and of family members and physicians involved. I, personally, have a close friend whose first newborn son had to endure heart surgery at 2 weeks old! That was stressful enough. Many not only endure heart surgeries multiple times but must also depend on obtaining a new heart from donor to continue to survive. I can only begin to imagine the cost to these families, not only financially, but emotionally.
This is a very inspiring tale of a dedicated Surgeon, who has sacrificed her own personal life for the sake of serving others, and a few accounts of the recipients.
It is very well written and totally interesting.
This earns a solid Four Stars rating.
This book was gifted to me with no suggestion of posting a positive review. This is my honest review.

I love medical memoirs and this focus on a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon was completely fascinating. The amount of education and training needed, the fact that she is a petite woman with attitude and heart, and the intricacy of her operations likened to sewing a piece of olive onto a macaroni noodle are all amazing to me. The best part is you can enter to win a $25 gift card to Amazon and purchase your own copy if you win!

Mark Oristano is a well-known sports journalist and decides to follow Dr. Kristine Guleserian, a noted pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon who works on tiny hearts of some of the youngest children as well as some of the most damaged and weakest hearts in children. Through her voice, as well as his, we are introduced to the years of grueling training that medical students go through to the day she decides to become a surgeon to the many lives she has saved during her years at Children's Medical Center in Dallas.

One of her patients, Rylynn, is featured throughout the story. Rylynn's case begins as an infant, born with a heart abnormality. As a toddler, she becomes Dr. Guleserian's patient and eventually needs a heart transplant. The story of resilience of this sweet girl and all that she endured to be a healthy child is quite amazing. She is a true fighter and reading about the multiple surgeries and near death experiences her and her parents endured brought me to tears.

At just 140 pages, this book is a quick look at the life and career of a compassionate doctor who truly loves being a surgeon. It isn't bogged down in medical jargon, but instead offers the human side of doctors, patients looking for another chance at life, and parents praying to see their children be active and grow into adults. A really fascinating book!

Every nurse, doctor, administrative assistant, scrub tech, courier, and everyone else both behind the scenes and everyone else that works at a hospital, really deserves a shout out of thanks. If you asked Dr. Guleserian, she would acknowledge that she could not be the best without her team.

Although, Dr. Guleserian may be small in height but she can still command a room. Mr. Oristano explains how Dr. Guleserian did not want to write a book about herself and how he would do it in the first person with quotes from the doctor. Actually, I enjoyed the book this was. It was great to really get the full experience of someone looking in from the outside. Therefore, every time that Mr. Oristano saw or felt something, I felt and the same things. Each of the stories that were featured about some of Dr. Guleserian's young patients was inspiring. I like that Dr. Guleserian said that she kept learning. Even at the top, she still was researching to see what new techniques were out there and not just in the US. This book moved me in a good way.

Have you ever wished that you knew a little more about football? You’re watching with friends, everyone is yelling about the lousy blocking or the zone defense and you wish you knew what they were talking about? Or maybe you wish your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse could get as excited about the pass coverage as you are? This may be just the book you need. A Sportscaster’s Guide to Watching Football will teach new fans and old a little more about the game so many of us love. The author, Mark Oristano, spent thirty years working for/with the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Oilers. Along the way, he picked up a lot of helpful information.

Oristano has some great stories to tell about people he met and games that he saw. He got to watch a lot of great players – Earl Campbell, Roger Staubach, Troy Aikmann, Emmit Smith and Michael Irvin. His “Time Outs” are some of my favorite parts of the book. (I have to say that his “Cool Things to Say During the Game” really aren’t.) He gives a new football fan all the information they need to know in order to understand what they see on the field, without condescending to his readers. He covers the basic rules of the game, the offense and defense, the positions and the penalties, all with the mindset that you will enjoy the game more if you understand it, but you do not have to be ready to coach the home team next Sunday.

I think most readers will find that the book expands their basic knowledge in a lot of areas. Statistics, the two-minute drill, defensive formations – there is information that will be of interest to most casual fans. I learned a lot – even a couple of things that I can pull out the next time we’re talking football trivia.

Read my full review at AliveontheShelves.com.

The Short of It:

Short, yet packed with useful information. This is the guide for those that want to know more about the game yet don’t have a lot of time in front of the TV to figure it all out.

The Rest of It:

When I was asked to review this book I jumped at the chance. Sometimes books just end up in your hands at the right time, you know? The Hub has always been incredibly frustrated by my lack of knowledge in the area of football. When I watch football, I comment on the outfits (uniforms) and during the Superbowl, I choose a team to root for simply by asking who the underdog is. I always root for the underdog. This lack of information began in my high school days. I was on pep squad and during all the games I ran from one end of the field to the other with absolutely no idea what the heck I was doing or why. I just followed the others but felt incredibly silly at times.

However, those days are over! Well, not quite over but after reading A Sportscaster’s Guide to Watching Football, I feel as if I can at least follow the game now. Mark Oristano spent 30 years as a professional sports broadcaster so he certainly knows the game, but what impressed me with this book is that he tells me what I need to know in layman’s terms yet provides all of the vocabulary necessary to talk like pro.

The book is peppered with tips. Here’s an example:

If you’ve been watching football, you’ve probably been watching the football. I’m going to give you an order here: DON’T WATCH THE BALL. I know it sounds odd, since the ball is the whole point of the game, but the ball doesn’t tell you what’s going on.

So true.

The book is also peppered with sections titled Cool Things to Say During Game:

To really make the point, when the two-minute time-out commercial break is over, as your team comes up to the line of scrimmage, and your QB goes under center, swirl your drink, make that ice noise, and say, “Work the sideline, baby!”

See what I mean? Useful stuff. Since I knew nothing about the game, any info is really better than none, so feedback from me may not be that useful in determining if this is the book for you, so I had The Hub read it. You’ll be happy to know that he gave it his seal of approval!

With it being so easy to read and it being so short, I think a lot of folks might enjoy this and it would make a great stocking stuffer.

Source: Thanks to Phenix and Phenix Literary Publicists for sending me this review copy.