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A review by lbw
The Hospital: Life, Death, and Dollars in a Small American Town by Brian Alexander
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
Oh, boy...I feel like I have too much I want to say about this book.
Part of me wishes I had read the printed version instead of listening to the audio because there are so many people mentioned that it was difficult for me to keep everyone straight. However, I'm glad I listened instead of reading print because the facts detailed and situations described were at times both so enraging and so capable of creating despair that it was better to let the audio wash over me rather than read the text with more focus.
If you don't believe the healthcare system in the United States is broken, this book lay out exactly why and how it is. If you already believe the healthcare system is broken, this book will give you more specifics and tie the problem into the larger problem of capitalism in general. It tells the larger story through the smaller story of one rural hospital and its patients over several years. It's all about, as one of the last lines of the book say, "the forces that swept (view spoiler) toes into that plastic tub."
By the end, I was left believing that one of the most anti-capitalist acts that a person can commit is somehow avoiding entering the US healthcare system.
Part of me wishes I had read the printed version instead of listening to the audio because there are so many people mentioned that it was difficult for me to keep everyone straight. However, I'm glad I listened instead of reading print because the facts detailed and situations described were at times both so enraging and so capable of creating despair that it was better to let the audio wash over me rather than read the text with more focus.
If you don't believe the healthcare system in the United States is broken, this book lay out exactly why and how it is. If you already believe the healthcare system is broken, this book will give you more specifics and tie the problem into the larger problem of capitalism in general. It tells the larger story through the smaller story of one rural hospital and its patients over several years. It's all about, as one of the last lines of the book say, "the forces that swept (view spoiler) toes into that plastic tub."
By the end, I was left believing that one of the most anti-capitalist acts that a person can commit is somehow avoiding entering the US healthcare system.