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Name: Living and Dying in Brick City: Stories from the Front Lines of an Inner-City E.R. - Kindle edition by Davis, Sampson, Page, Lisa Frazier. Politics & Social Sciences Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
Rating: 4.4 (398 reviews)

Living and Dying in Brick City: Stories from the Front Lines of an Inner-City E.R. Kindle Edition

by Sampson Davis (Author), Lisa Frazier Page (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.4 398 ratings

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A riveting personal exploration of the healthcare crisis facing inner-city communities, written by an emergency room physician who grew up in the very neighborhood he is now serving

Sampson Davis is best known as one of three friends from inner-city Newark who made a pact in high school to become doctors. Their book The Pact and their work through the Three Doctors Foundation have inspired countless young men and women to strive for goals they otherwise would not have dreamed they could attain. In this book, Dr. Davis looks at the healthcare crisis in the inner city from a rare perspective: as a doctor who works on the front line of emergency medical care in the community where he grew up, and as a member of that community who has faced the same challenges as the people he treats every day. He also offers invaluable practical advice for those living in such communities, where conditions like asthma, heart disease, stroke, obesity, and AIDS are disproportionately endemic.

Dr. Davis’s sister, a drug addict, died of AIDS; his brother is now paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair as a result of a bar fight; and he himself did time in juvenile detention—a wake-up call that changed his life. He recounts recognizing a young man who is brought to the E.R. with critical gunshot wounds as someone who was arrested with him when he was a teenager during a robbery gone bad; describes a patient whose case of sickle-cell anemia rouses an ethical dilemma; and explains the difficulty he has convincing his landlord and friend, an older woman, to go to the hospital for much-needed treatment. With empathy and hard-earned wisdom, Living and Dying in Brick City presents an urgent picture of medical care in our cities. It is an important resource guide for anyone at risk, anyone close to those at risk, and anyone who cares about the fate of our cities.

Praise for Living and Dying in Brick City

“A pull-no-punches look at health care from a seldom-heard sector . . . Living and Dying isn’t a sky-is-falling chronicle. It’s a real, gutsy view of a city hospital.”—Essence

“Gripping . . . a prescription to help kids dream bigger than their circumstances, from someone who really knows.”—People

“[Dr. Davis] is really a local hero. His story has inspired so many of our young people, and he’s got his finger on the pulse of what is a challenge in Newark, and frankly all across America. . . . I think his book is going to make a big impact.”—Cory Booker

“Some memoirs are heartfelt, some are informative and some are even important. Few, however, are all three. . . . As rare as it is for a book to be heartfelt, well written and inspirational, it’s even rarer for a critic to say that a book should be required reading. This ought to be included in high school curricula—for the kids in the suburbs who have no idea what life is like in the inner cities, and for the kids in the inner cities to know that there is a way out.”—The Star-Ledger

“Dramatic and powerful.”—New York Daily News

“This book just might save your life. Sampson Davis shares fascinating stories from the E.R. and addresses the inner-city health crisis. His book is an important investment in your most valuable resource: your health.”—Suze Orman, author of The Money Class

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Davis—an African American who grew up in a tough neighborhood in Newark, aka Brick City, beat the odds, and became an emergency room doctor in the hospital where he was born—is a likable but flawed hero. And his book is a page-turner as he and Washington Post writer and editor Page, coauthor of the best-selling memoir The Pact (2002) with Davis and his best childhood friends, create memorable scenes. To compellingly tell the story of the health crisis in poor, urban America, they draw on Davis’ experiences in the emergency room and in his own family. His dad gets prostate cancer, his older sister contracts AIDS, and his older, alcoholic brother becomes paralyzed because of a fight. Davis describes trying and failing to help such emergency-room patients as a victim of domestic violence and a 700-pound woman. He tries to figure out whether sickle-cell-anemia patients who come into the ER complaining of pain truly need prescription medication or if they’re just looking for an easy fix. A personal and thought-provoking look at inner-city health. --Karen Springen

Review

“A pull-no-punches look at health care from a seldom-heard sector . . . Living and Dying isn’t a sky-is-falling chronicle. It’s a real, gutsy view of a city hospital.”—Essence

“Gripping . . . a prescription to help kids dream bigger than their circumstances, from someone who really knows.”—People

“[Dr. Davis] is really a local hero. His story has inspired so many of our young people, and he’s got his finger on the pulse of what is a challenge in Newark, and frankly all across America. . . . I think his book is going to make a big impact.”—Cory Booker

“Some memoirs are heartfelt, some are informative and some are even important. Few, however, are all three. . . . As rare as it is for a book to be heartfelt, well written and inspirational, it’s even rarer for a critic to say that a book should be required reading. This ought to be included in high school curricula—for the kids in the suburbs who have no idea what life is like in the inner cities, and for the kids in the inner cities to know that there is a way out.”—The Star-Ledger

“Dramatic and powerful.”—New York Daily News

“This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. Sampson Davis’s personal story is powerful, and his experiences in the ER room underscore the lack of effective health care in our underserved communities. Newark is lucky to have him as a citizen, and we are all lucky that he has shared his insights and expertise with us in Living and Dying in Brick City. His is an important voice in the conversation on health care in this country.”—Wes Moore, author of The Other Wes Moore

“This book just might save your life. Sampson Davis shares fascinating stories from the E.R. and addresses the inner-city health crisis. His book is an important investment in your most valuable resource: your health.”—Suze Orman, author of The Money Class

“This book is living proof that behind the boarded-up windows of one of America’s most neglected cities, beyond the sorrow and the pain, there is much more than we’ve come to expect. There is hope. There is change. There is redemption for Brick City. The book will open your eyes to a part of the world that most of us only see from behind the wheel of a tightly locked car. Sampson Davis is not afraid to lift heavy objects in this world. I’m glad he shared his journey with us, so that we know it is possible.”—James McBride, author of The Color of Water

“Living and Dying in Brick City provides a fascinating look at the interesting but often terrifying life of a medical professional in a tough inner-city hospital. More importantly it provides excellent and very practical advice about healthcare issues that are relevant to people of every socioeconomic group. It is entertaining while being helpful.” —Benjamin S. Carson Sr., MD, The Benjamin S Carson Sr MD and Dr Evelyn Spiro RN Professor and Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions

About the Author

Sampson Davis was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey. He is a board certified emergency medicine physician and author of the New York Times bestsellers The Pact, We Beat the Street, and The Bond. He is the youngest physician to receive the National Medical Association’s highest honor, the Scroll of Merit. He is a recipient of Essence and BET humanitarian awards and was named by Essence as one of the forty most inspirational African Americans. He is a founder of the Three Doctors Foundation and practices medicine in New Jersey.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

1

BROTHERS

Brother, brother, brother
There’s far too many of you dying.…
—Marvin Gaye, 1971”

The name stopped me cold.

Don Moses.

I knew a Don Moses. And I knew right away it had to be him.

I’d been in my residency for several months, but this was my first day on duty in the trauma unit at University Hospital, one of the training centers in Beth Israel’s network. I’d made it to the conference room early for the morning report, coffee cup in hand, my green scrubs and white lab coat spotless. The least I could do was look polished. There would be lots of gray hair and experience in the room, and I’d heard that these sessions could be brutal. Word was, the senior surgeons often challenged the medical actions taken the night before by their less-experienced colleagues, and they didn’t think twice about knocking an ill-prepared resident down to size. Fortunately for me, as a newbie I wasn’t on the hot seat. My plan was to lie low, watch, and learn. But I couldn’t take my eyes off the green chalkboard at the front of the room—and that name, in white chalk, crossed out, with a word written next to it in all caps: “DECEASED.”

Don Moses.

It jumped out from the long list of patient names and data. The age seemed about right, thirty-one, just four years older than me. And he probably would have come to this hospital, since it was close to the old neighborhood. He’d been shot several times, had made it through surgery, and had been in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit. And then, that line through his name. My eyes froze there, my knees went weak, and I eased into my seat for the morning report. Suddenly, my cool began to melt. The cotton lab coat that I’d pulled on just moments earlier now felt like wool, and the once ice-cold conference room was starting to feel like a sauna.

Don Moses.

We called him Snake. A decade had passed since I’d seen him dashing past me with the police on his heels one wild summer night. I’d lived across the street from the eight-story Dayton Street projects, one of Newark’s most notorious housing developments, and I hung out there practically every day. As a teenager, Snake had moved to the Seth Boyden projects, a short walk away. His fearless swagger and willingness to scrap with anybody who got in his way quickly earned him the respect of the toughest dudes around. The Dayton Street grammar school sat between the two housing projects, and from the time my friends and I were old enough to play outside alone, the schoolyard was our main hangout. We grew up playing hide-and-go-seek and shooting hoops there. Then, as teenagers, we’d sit on the concrete steps and pass the time listening to music, rapping, and talking about girls. I held a gun for the first time one summer night on that playground. I was seventeen. Snake, Duke, Manny, and I took turns passing around the cold, hard steel. It was Duke’s gun; he’d bought it off some kid on the street. Duke was the one who’d introduced us to Snake. Both were in their early twenties. The night Duke brought the gun to the yard, he and Snake took practice shots into the school’s metal door. Holding the nine-millimeter pistol was enough excitement for me. It just didn’t feel right blasting bullets through a schoolhouse door. But that night sealed our bond. The four of us became a team, with Manny and me as the eager-to-please little brothers.

We looked up to Snake. He was a mysterious dude, about five feet ten inches tall and two hundred pounds of solid muscle. He was smooth on his feet, although he moved through the neighborhood with a huge walking stick. His friends knew its real purpose: It would double as a whipping stick for the fools who dared to try to catch him off guard. He usually wore baseball caps to cover a patch of missing hair from a permanent scalp injury, which probably happened during a street fight. “Snake was always down to fight. But his allegiance was flighty at best. He’d scrap one-on-one against a neighborhood rival or battle with a group targeting another gang. But he’d sometimes do an about-face and attack guys I thought were his boys. You never knew what to expect from Snake or how far he would go. During battle, the dude seemed to have no emotions; he’d beat an opponent mercilessly, past the point where even a little bit of human empathy might have said, “That’s enough.” In that sense, he was a real warrior, and back then it felt good to be on Snake’s side. There was a fun part of him, too. He was the first to pull a prank or talk music and girls, but even then he never revealed much about himself. I sometimes saw him with his sister, but he never talked about his family or home life.

I don’t know whether Snake ever finished high school, but neither he nor Duke worked a real nine-to-five; they mostly hustled drugs and did odd jobs to keep cash and make themselves appear legitimate. The summer before my senior year in high school, the four of us were hanging out in the schoolyard one night as usual, when Duke came up with a moneymaking scheme to rob drug dealers. I knew it was wrong, but we wouldn’t be hurting anybody, I reasoned. They were just drug dealers. And something about the idea made me feel powerful and strong. At fifteen, Manny already had some prior arrests; he was game right away. Part of me was becoming as comfortable as my friends with this thug life, but there was another side of me, too.

As quiet as I’d kept it, I was also an honor student at University High School, where I’d become best friends with two other guys, Rameck and George. We’d ended up in some of the same classes and clicked right away because all three of us did well in school and still managed to be popular and cool. At the end of the previous school year, our junior year, George had talked Rameck and me into applying together to a scholarship program that would provide almost a full ride to college and medical school if we wanted to become doctors. None of us could have afforded college otherwise (even if the medical school part still seemed iffy for me), and so we’d taken the leap, sure of just one thing: Whatever we didn’t know we could figure out together. I hadn’t dared to mention any of those plans to Snake and the boys, though. They would have laughed me off the stoop: Marshall, going to college? Becoming a doctor? Who did I think I was? Some rich white dude or one of those Cosby kids on TV? Around my way, it was all about the here and now. Tomorrow wasn’t promised, and you did what you had to do today to survive.

For the moment, robbing drug dealers was the plan. What happened next seemed part of some bad dream—from us jumping out one night on the young Montclair drug boys to Snake and Duke brandishing the firepower to my patting down pockets and snatching jewelry and cash. All four of us had dressed in black to blend in with the darkness. We were just about to make our getaway when I noticed a brown four-door Chevy Citation pull up to the curb on the street in front of us. Two men in jeans and polo shirts shouted some questions about being lost. I moved discreetly toward the car and noticed a police radio on the floor. I immediately began backing away from the scene, yelling: “21 Jump! 21 Jump!” Undercover cops. We’d taken the code from the name of a popular television series.

Within seconds, we were practically surrounded by police cars. My ten-second jump-start helped me distance myself from the scene and appear more like a spectator. The police focused on my three friends. As Snake sprinted past me, his sweaty face glistening, his gold chain bouncing on his chest, he looked shocked and desperate. It had never occurred to us that we might get caught. Keep your head straight, Sam, I told myself. Keep walking. Don’t run just yet. Blend in with the surroundings. You’re seconds away from freedom.

All three of my boys were arrested that night, and their loyalty ended there. Police found my ride, the would-be getaway car, at the scene and put out the word that they were coming for me. I turned myself in the next day. Because of their ages, Snake and Duke were taken to jail. Manny and I were transported to a juvenile detention center. To this day, I thank God that I was only seventeen and a half. If this had occurred a few months later, my future would have been a very different story. Since all three had serious priors, Snake was sentenced to seven years, Duke got five years, and Manny four. With just a misdemeanor shoplifting charge to my name, I got probation and, after four weeks in juvenile detention, another chance.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00985E1OY
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House; 1st edition (February 12, 2013)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 12, 2013
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 705 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 258 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #756,074 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #215 in Urban Sociology
- #612 in Biographies of Medical Professionals (Kindle Store)
- #976 in Sociology of Urban Areas

Customer Reviews:
4.4 398 ratings

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Sampson Davis
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Dr. Sampson Davis is a NY Times & Essence best seller Author of The Pact, We Beat the Street, The Bond and Living and Dying in Brick City. The Pact is the winner of, "The Books for Better Life" Award. His new book, The STUFF, is scheduled for release on May 15, 2018.
Dr. Davis is a board-certified emergency medicine physician and is the youngest physician to receive the National Medical Association's highest honor, the Scroll of Merit. He is recipient of the Essence and BET humanitarian awards and was named by Essence as one of the forty most inspirational African Americans. He is a co-founder of The Three Doctors Foundation, focusing on health, education, leadership and mentoring. He has appeared in various print publications and on numerous talk shows, including Oprah, the Today Show and The View, and has served as a medical expert for CNN, Today Show, Dr Oz and Tom Joyner Morning Show.
Dr. Davis was born in Newark, New Jersey. He received his bachelor's degree from Seton Hall University, his medical degree from Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at the same hospital where he was born, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.
Dr. Davis lives and practices emergency medicine in New Jersey. He's a national speaker and lectures often. For more info, please email Windy White - drsampsondavis@gmail.com and visit www.drsampondavis.com and www.thestuffmovement.com
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Lisa Frazier Page
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Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read book recommendations and more.
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Customers say

Customers find the book engaging and informative. They appreciate the author's insights and real-life stories that help convey health messages. The narrative is well-written, with vivid descriptions and a good flow. Many readers consider it an outstanding guide for young people on peer pressure. The human story is inspiring and heartwarming, with a good narrative that seamlessly blends personal experiences with facts. The pacing is smooth and easy to follow, making it a compelling read.

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67 customers mention "Readability"67 positive0 negative

Customers find the book engaging and well-written. They appreciate the vivid descriptions and clear narration. The stories describe the author's experiences and provide hope. Overall, readers find the book worth reading and look forward to more from Dr. Davis.

"...If one however decides to linger over the material, there is good stuff in there even for the jaded professional...." Read more

"Dr. Davis did an excellent job from both the medical aspects of diseases that affect both urban and general populations...." Read more

"...Good work by Dr. Davis and I will be looking forward to more insight from him." Read more

"...The book is easy to read and very clear. The stories are fascinating...." Read more

57 customers mention "Insight"57 positive0 negative

Customers find the book informative and interesting. They appreciate the author's use of real-life stories to make health points. The references and factual information are helpful. Readers like the author's vision for helping others.

"...It may offer you some hope, realizing that there may be a way out, and there are resources you can turn to for help...." Read more

"...insight that this book provide regarding the need for seeing individuals and communities holistically, especially when it comes to health care...." Read more

"...Part memoir, part ethical testimony from a Christian framework this Wiccan could love, part political statement of why Inner City residents suffer..." Read more

"...he is so good at. Three stars for being sincere and having great goals in mind, though!" Read more

24 customers mention "Storytelling"24 positive0 negative

Customers find the stories engaging and heartwarming. They appreciate how the author seamlessly blends his experiences in the ER with facts about the community. The book is described as an inspiring but realistic compilation of events through Dr. Davis' eyes. It chronicles the community environment and relates behaviors.

"...The book is divided into thematic chapters with cryptic titles such as "Love Hurts" and "The Fish Bowl", that leave one guessing what they might..." Read more

"...He also presented a heart felt picture of the challenge it is to become a physician, especially when you attend an inner city school where..." Read more

"...The book is easy to read and very clear. The stories are fascinating...." Read more

"...The fact that this story is told through real life examples makes it easy to digest and relate to...." Read more

11 customers mention "Reading level"11 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and engaging for young people. They appreciate the author's patient teaching and dedication to helping young people navigate life successfully. The book is described as inspiring, motivating, and helpful for young people.

"...'s starting point is and helping them to carefully and successfully navigate through life given their skill set, condition and/or circumstance...." Read more

"Sampson Davis has written an outstanding guide for young people on real-world peer-pressure issues that reads like a novel...." Read more

"...He is truly devoted to his community and helping young people. Well written, eye opening, and, ultimately, full of hope." Read more

"...There was a lot of patient teaching which is important." Read more

9 customers mention "Human story"9 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's human story engaging. They appreciate the author's genuine humanity and genuine advocacy for the people. The stories are fascinating, especially in the Inner City. Readers appreciate the author's candor in sharing his story.

"...The stories are fascinating. Real human lives and deaths, especially in the Inner City, are even more fascinating...." Read more

"...Although he's probably a good doctor and seems a decent person. You won't find anything new, and nothing unique in how he's stated things...." Read more

"...He is very human and extremely humane. He paints his pictures in broad strokes and intimate details...." Read more

"...' story from the other books, but really appreciate how candidly he tells his story here...." Read more

4 customers mention "Pacing"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's pacing engaging. They appreciate the will to move forward despite obstacles. The different font allows readers to easily transition to the next chapter without losing the narrative flow.

"...are clearly demarcated by a different font and one can easily move to the next chapter without losing the narrative...." Read more

"Very moving and touching book. Especially if you are in the medical field you will connect with this book a bit more...." Read more

"This is a true story and both moving and inspirational. Davis gives inter-chapter guidelines for those facing the issues he describes." Read more

"The will to move forward although the odds were against them..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

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CYRIL D'CRUZ
A must read.
Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2013
Verified Purchase

This book can hold its own against any other similar example of medical drama, a genre very popular in print and television. If that was all it was, it would make for an exciting reading experience, but then disappear down the rabbit hole of memory. There is, however, much more to the book, which makes it truly unforgettable. The book is divided into thematic chapters with cryptic titles such as "Love Hurts" and "The Fish Bowl", that leave one guessing what they might signify. Each chapter uses actual cases that Dr Davis has encountered in training or in practice, but supplements the narrative with commentary on public health and social issues as well as personal biographical references. These three elements blend seamlessly and skillfully into each other effortlessly moving between them and yet creating a cohesive unit defining a specific problem. The descriptions of the medical cases are exciting, with all the drama encountered in an emergency room setting. The public health issues and problems are usually clearly defined and backed by statistical data that are sometimes alarming. The most gripping portion of each chapter, however is the biographical linking of the episodes and situations to the author by references to his personal story. This is the most poignant and heartwarming aspect of every chapter. Very few persons, if any, describing such events can really say "Been There, or Done That." A constant theme is "Look at me now. If I can do it, so can You."

Another unique aspect of the book is the listing of helpful information pertaining to the chapter immediately after it. Purists might balk at this unorthodox approach, arguing that such material should be relegated to the back of the book along with the citations and acknowledgements. This however, is Emergency Medicine where the need to act is acute, and one does not push off things to the end. If someone really needs to use the information listed, he has most likely made a great effort to even read the chapter and needs the information readily at hand. Other chapters may not be pertinent to him and it is unfair to make him rummage through the back of the book to search for what he may need. Furthermore, these sections are clearly demarcated by a different font and one can easily move to the next chapter without losing the narrative. If one however decides to linger over the material, there is good stuff in there even for the jaded professional.

This book should be required reading as part of all Medical School Curricula or in any form of training associated with the Health Profession. In these days of Impersonal Medicine fuelled by avarice and a push by most medical students towards the most lucrative specialities, it may be important to be reminded, that unlike many professions, the practice of Medicine is really about helping others.

If you live in an area of the country similar to Newark, and there are many such areas in Urban America, this book may help you deal with your problems. It may offer you some hope, realizing that there may be a way out, and there are resources you can turn to for help.

If you live anywhere else, you will learn about a part of the country you probably had no idea existed. It will give you something to think about when you are forced to make a detour through an area you would never venture into. It may even inspire you to want to do something about the problem. The costs of urban neglect are astronomical and are borne by the community at large, and so it makes good economic sense to do something about it.

This book will make you laugh. It will make you cry. It will make you sad. It will make you mad. It will however warm your heart and perhaps inspire you. Every penny of the $25 dollars ( Much less if you get the book on Amazon) you invest, (not spend) will return more than you paid.

If you like the book, tell your friends and neighbors about it. Donate or circulate your copies. Lead book club discussions in your community and make sure your library and schools carry it.

If you hate the book, you probably hate kittens, puppies and babies and need a nice big hug to warm your heart.

Cyril D'Cruz MD.

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Anthony Cabot, MD
The complexities and challenges of practicing medicine
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2018
Verified Purchase
Dr. Davis did an excellent job from both the medical aspects of diseases that affect both urban and general populations. I have recommended his book to both colleagues and friends. He also presented a heart felt picture of the challenge it is to become a physician, especially when you attend an inner city school where concentrating on academics is "not cool." What I found disappointing was that once he made the decision to associate with friends who wanted to climb out of the hood by hard work, he still felt a need to refer to other members of the Africa-American community as the "brothers and the sisters." He lost some rapport with me as a result. I am an orthopaedic surgeon in Atlanta, trained in Spanish Harlem in New York. We were taught, as was he, to evaluate all of our patients, as much as possible in a gender and racially neutral fashion, to the best that we could. It certainly opened up our understanding with diverse populations. I think that Dr. Davis should have tried to camouflage some of those sentiments, but I still loved his book and recommend it highly.

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DavidJ
Hopeful
Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2013
Verified Purchase
I greatly appreciate the work that Dr. Davis has done and continues to do for his community. What I most appreciate is the insight that this book provide regarding the need for seeing individuals and communities holistically, especially when it comes to health care. In this country, we do an excellent job training health care providers about health and medicine, but we failed to effectively train them to appreciate and understand people's complexed lives. And how those lives are shaped by their environment, policies that we create, and education.

Dr. Davis makes clear that a majority of people in improvished communities are not looking for pity, but opportunity and respect. And if you, as a health care provider, desire to have a positive affect on the well being of others, you have to push yourself to go beyond stereotypes and biases and realize that individuals and communities can change for the better, but they must be given the opportunity and respect in order to make that change. Frequently, health care providers will take the position that they are poor, black, hispanic . . . so let's not expect better outcomes. Health care providers that have that position as their starting point, do tremendous harm to the persons they are charged to treat.

Dr. Davis challenges us to recognize that cultural competency is not about seeing color or condition and having empathy. It is more about appreciating where a person's starting point is and helping them to carefully and successfully navigate through life given their skill set, condition and/or circumstance. In essence, to be an effective health care provider, you must address and support individuals where they are currently and not where I want you them to be.

Good work by Dr. Davis and I will be looking forward to more insight from him.

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Top reviews from other countries

Kitty Mack
5 Stars For The Cri de Coeur - But Prepare for a Choppy Read...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 5, 2016
Verified Purchase

I saw Dr. Davis on Oprah many years ago - he and two friends from Newark promised each other they would all get out of the projects and become doctors. All three succeeded. Two are now M.D.s and one is a dentist. I haven't read the book that details that journey ("The Pact") - but I thought I remembered the story well enough to start with "Living and Dying...".

The book is part cri de coeur, part public health manual and part biography. It's the first aspect I found the most interesting (and important). Davis is an Emergency Room doctor, and most of the people he treats are from his own community. Without wanting to give too much away, Davis' frustration with human frailties (including his own) make for the most fascinating passages in "Living and Dying,,,". He knows all too well that the drug dealer staggering into the emergency room with multiple gunshot wounds could easily be him.

Where things went wrong for me was with the decision to pepper the book with public health messages. After every chapter, there is an "information" insert. So after a chapter on how STIs/AIDS is ravaging black America, we have several pages of STI symptoms. I get the idea behind this (I think) - someone who wouldn't pick up a "health" book, might pick up a human interest book. But I (personally) doubt it.

I also wish that there had either been more - or less - biography. This could have been a "work memoir" OR a personal one. This is instead a weird mix of both. The co-writer is credited - so I'm not sure whose voice is the dominant one - but I found it sad that the book sort of peters out with Davis' career in a lull. There are also brief mentions of a woman (she is "fine", we don't find out much else) with whom Davis shacks up - and then impregnates. If he wants to be a role model (and clearly he does)...did it not occur to him that the attitudes we so often see (as regards how black men see/treat black women in America) could be CAUSING some of the problems he sees every day at the ER? Making babies is easy. Building a strong marriage and family in a hostile environment is the real achievement. These are the "bricks" that could rebuild Brick City.

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A Gift: Living and Dying in Brick City.
Reviewed in Canada on April 21, 2013
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Have not read it. A gift for my son who has just done 3 months of Emergency Internship in Australia..

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Living and Dying in Brick City: Stories from the Front Lines of an Inner-City E.R. Kindle Edition

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5.0 out of 5 stars A must read.

4.0 out of 5 stars The complexities and challenges of practicing medicine

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4.0 out of 5 stars 5 Stars For The Cri de Coeur - But Prepare for a Choppy Read...

5.0 out of 5 stars A Gift: Living and Dying in Brick City.

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A must read.

The complexities and challenges of practicing medicine

Hopeful

5 Stars For The Cri de Coeur - But Prepare for a Choppy Read...

A Gift: Living and Dying in Brick City.