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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 617.48092
EAN num: 9780812973402
ISBN number: 0812973402
Label: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 288
Printing Date: June 12, 2007
Publishing house: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Release Date: June 12, 2007
Sale Popularity Level: 47979
Studio: Random House Trade Paperbacks
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Katrina Firlik is a neurosurgeon, one of only two hundred or so women among the alpha males who dominate this high-pressure, high-prestige medical specialty. She is also a superbly gifted writer–witty, insightful, at once deeply humane and refreshingly wry. In Another Day in the Frontal Lobe, Dr. Firlik draws on this rare combination to create a neurosurgeon’s Kitchen Confidential–a unique insider’s memoir of a fascinating profession.
Neurosurgeons are renowned for their big egos and aggressive self-confidence, and Dr. Firlik confirms that timidity is indeed rare in the field. “They’re the kids who never lost at musical chairs,” she writes. A brain surgeon is not only a highly trained scientist and clinician but also a mechanic who of necessity develops an intimate, hands-on familiarity with the gray matter inside our skulls. It’s the balance between cutting-edge medical technology and manual dexterity, between instinct and expertise, that Firlik finds so appealing–and so difficult to master.
Firlik recounts how her background as a surgeon’s daughter with a strong stomach and a keen interest in the brain led her to this rarefied specialty, and she describes her challenging, atypical trek from medical student to fully qualified surgeon. Among Firlik’s more memorable cases: a young roofer who walked into the hospital with a three-inch-long barbed nail driven into his forehead, the result of an accident with his partner’s nail gun, and a sweet little seven-year-old boy whose untreated earache had become a raging, potentially fatal infection of the brain lining.
From OR theatrics to thorny ethical questions, from the surprisingly primitive tools in a neurosurgeon’s kit to glimpses of future techniques like the “brain lift,” Firlik cracks open medicine’s most prestigious and secretive specialty. Candid, smart, clear-eyed, and unfailingly engaging, Another Day in the Frontal Lobe is a mesmerizing behind-the-scenes glimpse into a world of incredible competition and incalculable rewards.
From the Hardcover edition.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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As a reader in a similar field to the author, I was hoping to read this book and be able to relate to the stories presented. Unfortunately this was not the case. I found the anecdotes and personal opinions rather embarrassing and narcissistic. The author expressed thoughts that some doctors may have fleetingly, but are able to self censor.
There are many other good biographies and collections by medical practitioners full of humanity, humility and far more information. Try Oliver Sacks as recommended by the author!
Rated by buyers -
I really wanted to like this book but it was mostly an account of how great the author thinks she is.
Rated by buyers 
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In general, this is the type of book I love - a first-hand account of someone's life and experiences. My favorite books in this genre offer both an account and a thoughtful exploration of the experiences. In the medical field, two of my favorite books are Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande and The Measure of Our Days: A Spiritual Exploration of Illness by Jerome Groopman.
In my opinion, Another Day in the Frontal Lobe: A Brain Surgeon Exposes Life on the Inside by Katrina Firlik doesn't rise to that level. She is clearly a competent writer, and her discussions of some of the unusual cases she's attended are interesting, but many of the tangents in the book are considerably less thoughtful. Her descriptions of neurology conventions, for example, or her fictional account of the future of neurosurgery are not nearly as interesting as the actual patients with whom she's worked. Perhaps a stronger editorial hand would have improved the book.
Rated by buyers 
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This book was very enjoyable to read. I liked hearing about the field of neuro-surgery from a woman's perspective.
Rated by buyers -
It is true this book is "breezy" and it is an "easy read" to quote some other reviews but it seems to be missing some sort of basic humanity. I think what bothered me most was the lack of follow-up on most of the stories of the patients. A few we find out that they "died" or "seem to be doing well" but for the most part the operation is done and you never find out the end results. The end result for me, a layperson, is the book isn't all that interesting. While I love the science aspect, and read for the science parts of it, I am not a scientist. I need the more human element to keep me involved. This book lacks that.
My other issue is her running commentary on religion, god and belief. While I find it unsurprising that she is not a believer in a higher being I find her comments on it rather foolish, as if it is a given and not a topic that reasonable people can differ on. Einstein and Hawking both left the door open for god. I am not suggesting that she should be anything other than what she is in her belief, only that her lack of tolerance and "affection" for those of us so foolishly afflicted with a different opinion is rather grating.
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