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namsmommy09's review against another edition
4.0
This book was so interesting. Those were "different times" for sure. This book also had an afterward that told the story of writing the story, the struggles but also the joy in the meetup she got to witness of other incubator babies saved by the doctor, many now octogenarians. I love how medicine and showmanship came together to make this miracle happen.
lspargo's review
3.0
Interesting topic, but I'm not sure it warranted a whole book. The chapters were very short vignettes, jumping around between people, past and present. Many of the stories seemed unfinished or not completely relevant.
sugaqueen88's review against another edition
Ended up giving up. Each chapter felt like an unfinished story in and of itself. Overall it felt disjointed and I was left wanting. If it were assembled differently it had the potential to be fascinating and I'm truly disappointed that it didn't achieve that.
kategci's review
4.0
I picked this up to read for a pop-up book group in NYC sponsored by Book the Writer. As a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, I was very interested in the story of how the littlest babies were saved around the turn of the 20th Century. I had heard of the side shows where babies were exhibited in incubators, but I did not know the story of how they came to be. Dawn Raffel's story of Dr. Couney's life is briskly paced and tells the story of an immigrant success story, from entrepreneur to almost respected businessman. Dr. Couney or Martin Cohn as he was named at birth, fled from Europe in the late 1800s and came to America. He needed to make a living and may or may not have been a doctor in his native country. He was fascinated by the doctors and scientists who were developing incubators to care for premature infants. Hospitals were just coming into being as most women gave birth at home and those who were ill and in need of hospital care mostly could not afford it. In addition, hospitals were pretty dirty places. Finally, premature infants were not valued as patients or people. Many doctors put aside those who they felt were too small to survive. Dr. Couney came up with his side show of incubators, so that small infants born in the Spring and Summer got a chance at life. While he had some friends in the medical community, many were more were against his displays and what they viewed as exploitation. Starting out in several World Fairs, he was able build a staff of skilled nurses to care for these small, vulnerable babies and give them a chance at life. I flew through Dawn Raffel's book which is illustrated with 50 photos depicting the characters and the exhibits. More importantly, everyone in the book group loved it as well.
aderogat's review
3.0
This was a very interesting story, but I found the narrative difficult to follow at times.
amn028's review
2.0
The format of this book was overwhelming. It flipped in every direction, mentioning something and then never filling in details. I learned more about the President McKinley's assignation than Dr. Couney. It's unfortunate how it was written because he sounds like a fascinating character.
rstafeil's review
2.0
I read an article about Dr. Couney which got me interested in this book. I don't feel like the hours spent listening to this book gave me a whole lot of additional insight into Dr. Couney or how he ended up doing what he did. I don't know that much more than what I read in the article except for the number of world fairs and expositions at which he set up his display. No doubt Dr. Couney saved a lot of preemie lives, the the book just wasn't terrible compelling.
streberkatze's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.5
The intersection of medical history, Jewish history, and popular history is right in my wheelhouse. Plus, I've recently become fascinated by the history of Coney Island, which led me to this book. I did have to skip the section elaborating on an incident of animal cruelty in great detail. (I believe it was in the chapter Two Elephants, a Wedding, and a Bunch of Crying Babies. )
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Antisemitism
driedfrogpills's review
4.0
This was a trip from start to finish. Hard to believe that premature babies were once a side-show exhibit, but truth really is stranger than fiction. I didn't mind that Raffel jumped around time-line wise because her writing was so accessible. I do wish there was more on Couney so we could have had more definitive answers about his life, but I applaud Raffel's research and dedication to tracking down the still-living Incubator Babies and their stories.