RT Journal
A1 Lantos JD
T1 REading medical memoirs
JF Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
JO Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
YR 2012
FD August 1
VO 166
IS 8
SP 779
OP 780
DO 10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.1741
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.1741
AB 
So why read another physician memoir? Because, even though they all cover roughly the same territory, they can, when the stories are well constructed, provide us with insights into our own life and work. They can surprise us. William Carlos Williams developed the template. His stories start with a call to see a patient. At first, the case seems simple. The doctor sets out to make quick work of it. Then, a surprising turn occurs. The pediatrician is ambushed by feelings that are often both unprofessional and all too human. Then, “ . . . the commonplace, prosaic, and trivial events in ordinary life” lead to “a sudden revelation of a person's true character or the sudden understanding of the meaning of an event.”1