Monday, December 04, 2017

Recent Reads: Black Man in a White Coat and Vengeance



I just wanted to put up a quick note about two books I've read recently.


Black Man in a White Coat is a memoir written by Duke psychiatrist Damon Tweedy.    So what's it like to be a black med student and doctor, and not just anywhere, but at Duke.  Tweedy notes that he was accepted at other top medical schools, but that he went to Duke because the only way they could attract African American students was by giving large scholarships.  That gives you a hint as to what the environment was like.  So it's not surprising to read that Tweedy was standing with a classmate, purposefully dressed in a polo shirt and khaki's, only to have the professor walk into the lecture hall and ask if he was there to fix the lights.  Ugh.  So not specific to psychiatry, but a good read with important insights into how racial issues play out in medicine.  




Moving on to fiction, you may remember Pete Earley from Crazy: A Father's Search Through American's Mental Health Madness.  Pete is a mental health advocate, but at night, he steps into a phone booth (remember those?) and steps out dressed as a novelist.  Paired with Newt Gingrich, this fabulous novelist duo has now written 3 books in a series: Duplicity, Treason, and now Vengeance.    They follow Major Brooke Grant as she travels around the world chasing the Falcon, a dangerous terrorist who ultimately knocks off everyone Brooke loves (or almost).  Vengeance is by far the best of the three books, and I don't want to say too much, because it's a better read without the plot spoilers.    

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