Another Day In The Frontal Lobe: A Brain Surgeon Exposes Life On The Inside (2006) - Plot & Excerpts
Characters: The characters, though only a few with the exception of the author, are always described in great detail by Firlik in terms of speaking style, personality, appearance, and their thoughts on different matters. Each character’s thoughts and feelings are received by her, allowing a clear and accurate relay of the message to the reader, allowing every thought to be easily interpreted. Though the characters are likeable, the amount of dialogue they are allowed is usually dreadfully short, never really allowing the reader a chance to draw a solid conclusion on how they feel about them. ‘”Well, just call me if you’re going to the OR. I’ll leave my cell on.” He gives up and pulls a second slice out of the box while I’m wondering out loud what he should do to amuse himself while I’m busy. He’ll probably go out to a café and read a couple newspapers, further broadening his understanding of the world we live in,” (Firlik). The conversation between the author and her husband is fluid, natural, and easy to follow, however. Really, the characters are quite believable, despite lacking a consistent role in the novel due to the informational nature of the text. Language: The writer uses a type of casual tone in her writing that you would hear a friendly teacher that everyone likes use to address an interested classroom of students. Firlik is extremely engaging, providing what would normally be a boatload of information as a casual explanation, with different examples to help the reader visualize. Additionally, some examples take the form of stories to keep everything interesting. “Sometimes I wonder why I chose such a strange career. I don’t always have a satisfying answer for myself, but I can accept this lack of clarity from time to time. When other people pose the same question, though, I feel obligated to have a clear answer, so I have developed a respectable dinner party response that takes only a few seconds, something about neurosurgery being the best way to combine my interest in the brain with an interest in doing things with my hands. This answer, though, is admittedly dull and perfunctory, and probably disappointing,” (Firlik). Although at times the amount of information does get to be lengthy, most of it is nicely compressed and informs the reader easily and effectively. The text carries an official undertone to it at all times, but on the same note manages not to be condescending towards the reader. Outstanding word choice and sentence structures, as well.Information Provided: The topic of this text was focused on neurosurgery, but also delved into the actual career aspects of a neurosurgeon, the mindset one develops working in this field, and the situations that one might run into along the career path. The author provided insight gleaned from years of experience, and could provide ample information for aspiring neurosurgeons, few though there may be. “There are about 4,500 neurosurgeons in the United States. As a visual person, I picture that number as, roughly, all the kids in my high school times two. This means that there is, on average, one neurosurgeon for about every 66,000 people or so in this country. (Compare that to the African continent where the ratio is one neurosurgeon per 6 million people! One piece of advice: avoid a head injury while on safari,)” (Firlik.) In all honesty, this book could’ve followed a plotline if the story had followed the author’s experiences in chronological order, following the path of her career through a first person view. It would’ve made an excellent medical page turner, I believe, paired with Firlik’s precise and charming way of writing and still packed with info for those interested (and those who develop an interest while reading!) to take full advantage of.Theme(s): Though there is a gracious amount of raw facts and relaying of experiences, in terms of themes only a few could be found on my end. One possible theme is caution, as Firlik does warn the reader that if being a neurosurgeon is what they want to do, it was essential to be sure in order to not let all those years of medical school and so on go to waste by deciding at the very end that it wasn’t, in fact, the career they wanted. “If you hope to become a neurosurgeon, you have to prove your passion for science to the gatekeepers in the academes of neurosurgery.” A ‘look-before-you-leap’ approach must be adopted, and this idea holds true for many different situations in life, especially so when deciding on one’s career. The whole story, after all depicts the author’s profession mixed with the pros and cons that come with it because she persevered, and did what it took to become the surgeon she is now. Even the title ‘Another Day in the Frontal Lobe’, shows that though it can be tedious at times working such a strenuous job, it’s what she prefers to do each day, both because Firlik enjoys it and it’s what she’s a professional at.Personal Response: I thought that this book was pretty phenomenal, as it was easy to follow, engaging to the end of every chapter, and provided connections made through the author’s own experiences that the reader can relate to. I’m a little hesitant about whether or not I’d recommend it to a friend because even though it’s an enjoyable book, it does tend to drag on in length (after all, there’s a lot of info to cover!) but I think if they can handle lengthy bits of info with some statistics here and there, then I would absolutely recommend that they read it. And maybe discuss some of the more interesting parts later if they’re inclined to do so.
Insightful, funny and eye opening, Dr. Firlik’s account of her days spent as a student working her way up the ranks to become a neurosurgeon make for an engrossing read. As to be expected with a journal dealing with the medical profession, there are sprinklings of scientific terms that are a bit difficult for the layperson. However, each one is carefully explained and they don’t bog down the story at all. From the bizarre to the humbling, these accounts of her journeyman years while she struggled with her decision (long hours, messy clothes, inconvenient call times, etc., being among the factors of the job) are an absorbing tale. You learn about bezoars and cancerous tumors, ranges of senility and how it’s not necessarily an aspect of old age and the various treatments there are out there for the brain as well as the rapidly growing world of plastic surgery for the brain. The human element isn’t lost as Dr. Firlik often has to deal with the family of patients and she handles that with fortitude if not always the prerequisite sangfroid (a moment when she bursts into tears after delivering bad news is hard to read, since she clearly displays her anguish and subsequent shame at her loss of control). This may be an unusual choice for the average reader but it’s worth a read if you want to learn anything about a little-known field of medicine and the life of one of the few female doctors involved in it.
What do You think about Another Day In The Frontal Lobe: A Brain Surgeon Exposes Life On The Inside (2006)?
Memoir from a female neurosurgeon, all about the practice of neurosurgery, her experiences during her education, training, and work life, and lots of anecdotes about interesting patients. One patient had a half-degraded skull with maggots crawling out of his eye socket (oh - I should mention - don't read if you're squeamish), and one patient had incurable hiccups after coronary bypass surgery - why?? How bizarre is that? The body and brain interact in such complex ways, it feels impossible that we will ever truly understand it all.She touches on a wide variety of topics, from the mundane details of her daily job, to what it took to get there, to why anyone would want to do this type of work, to why anyone WOULDN'T want to do this type of work, to philosophical questions about brain vs. mind. It was a very interesting book that I enjoyed throughout.I read lots of reviews of this book that complained that she was egomaniacal, but I didn't get that sense at all (and I'm pretty sensitive to and annoyed by egotism). She was just straightforward. I also enjoyed her somewhat snarky and down-to-earth sense of humor, and her perspective on thorny issues surrounding end-of-life care and "what is a life worth?"-type questions. The biggest "lesson" from this book, if you want to look at it like that, is that every single case is unique and everything needs to be taken on a case-by-case basis.
—Katie
I had really high hopes for this book. I truly enjoy the nitty, gritty stories of medicine and hoped this would really be an insider's look at neurosurgery. Alas, it was not. It was interesting and gave some great historical information about the development and advances of neurosurgery. The cases she presented were really interesting, but there weren't really many of them and she didn't really give much in the way of description as far as surgery goes. The explaination of the different diseases and afflictions of the brain was fascinating, however. It's not a bad read. In reflecting upon what she views as the arrogance of some of her collegues because they are in such a elite profession, she does come off as a bit arrogant and superior herself. We get it. You're awesome and things that laypersons wouldn't understand come as easily to her as breathing. The descriptions of other famous neurosurgeons, pioneers in the field, and their research and developments are interesting. I have to admit though, by the end chapter my eyes were glazing over a bit. I really, really wish the writing and presentation were better. This had great potential.
—Samantha
While a readable and informative inside look at neurosurgery, the tone of the this memoir kept me at bay and from fully enjoying it. Neurosurgery as a discipline attracts the arrogant and overly confident. Dr. Firlik appears to be no exception, though from her own descriptions of colleagues, she is perhaps more relatable to mere non-neurosurgery mortals than some other docs. Having said all that, though I read this for pleasure, I did find it helpful to me in my own medical practice. It provided another perspective on epilepsy surgery that was perhaps divine timing in creating a meaningful and effective treatment plan for one of my patients.Perhaps arrogance is so intricately related to neurosurgery that one can't write about the subject without it. Either way, the tone left a distaste in my mouth making it harder to appreciate the good the book does offer.
—Maria (Ri)
