Run, Don't Walk: The Curious And Chaotic Life Of A Physical Therapist Inside Walter Reed Army Medical Center (2014) - Plot & Excerpts
I rarely stop books but I'm just not at a point in my life where I can read graphic, gory details for entertainment and I hit a spot in the book that was just a little too rough for me to take, at least at the moment. I kind of feel like the book cover was misleading - the subheading is "The curious and chaotic life of a physical therapist inside Walter Reed Army Medical Center". And it has a yellow smiley face balloon on the front. THere was really nothing "smiley" about the book at all and I just ended up deciding it wasn't the right book for me right now. Adele Levine's stories of her work at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as a physical therapist during the height of the casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan give us a poignant, at times sobering, but at more times touching and humorous account of her daily experiences there. The stories trace her years as a physical therapist, from how she joined the field to how she stayed with WR much longer than she anticipated, along with all of the characters she met and relationships she built. What struck me most about this book were two things: a very unique perspective on the aftermath of the wars in the middle east, and Adele's easy, welcoming prose. She manages to relate her own life events through the narrative, including her accomplishments as a long distance swimmer and avid cyclist, and some celebrations (meeting her partner) and losses (the death of her father). The way she weaves these in along with the stories of her patients bring a recognition of how the boundaries we often draw between work and life are much more fluid then we often to try to make it seem. Adele resonates as a humble narrator, inviting you into her crazy little world of prosthetic limbs, quirky therapists who bake pound cakes, volunteers who bring puppies to the hospital, and patients dealt heavy losses but determined to surmount them. I kept turning the pages because I wanted to read about what antics Adele would encounter in Walter Reed's "fishbowl.". Here's to hoping Adele continues to find the time to keep us laughing while she keeps on healing.
What do You think about Run, Don't Walk: The Curious And Chaotic Life Of A Physical Therapist Inside Walter Reed Army Medical Center (2014)?
Great read for anyone but especially those working in the therapy world.
—manoy
Got hold of an advance copy. A must read for anyone in physical therapy
—bree
