This is a beautifully written, very complex narrative by a young psychotherapist/artist of his journey into and out of life-threatening illness (at age 44, with 3 young children, he discovered he had a supposedly "inoperable" malignant brain tumor). In part it is a commentary on the current state of medicine, as the author grappled as a layperson to make sense of the conflicting opinions of the doctors he consulted and to decide whom he should entrust with his life. It is also a meditation on trust and human communication in general. The author has a psychoanalyst's (or a writer's) senstivitiy to the undercurrents and the unspoken in his conversations with doctors. He also has a writer's ear for the many ironies he encounters (for instance, the doctor who broke the news to him instructed his office manager to "Give him back his co-pay"). While the author portrays the physicians he encounters as imperfect, in his hands these imperfections are part of their humanity. This is underlined when he writes about the impact his illness had on his relationship with his own patients. In the end, the author expresses his gratitude for having been saved by a multitude of "human hands." A deeply rewarding book.

David Newman tells the story of seeking treatment for a tumor at the base of his skull, describing his efforts to talk with a series of doctors to figure out who he should work with and what should be done to deal with this threat to his life. The story unfolds in brief chapters, and the reader is swept up in the complex, confusing, terrifying, and exhausting process of trying to sort through conflicting medical opinions delivered to him by doctors who often have difficulty communicating clearly and coherently with him. A psychotherapist, Newman examines his interactions with these doctors as human encounters, seeking to understand not only how his own emotional responses affect the consultations but how the doctors' feelings enter the situation, often outside their awareness and often with unfortunate effect. Newman accomplishes all this in writing that is spare, direct, precise, and, at times, even darkly funny. He tells a personal story in a personal way and uses it to examine the complex issue of how doctors and patients must speak if they are to work together effectively.