Books and Dates
The VCU Women in Science Dentistry and Medicine Book Club meets at Cafe Gutenberg, 1700 East Main Street, Shockoe Bottom. It starts at 6 pm with dinner, then discussion, and ends around 8 pm. The WISDM Book Club welcomes faculty and friends interested in collegiality and lively discussions about contemporary pieces led by our facilitators. RSVP to Carol Hampton, 828-6594, or just show up ready to explore our literary choices. View books previously reviewed by WISDM members.
- Wednesday, October 17, 2007: Pope Joan: A Novel by Donna Woolfolk Cross
- Tuesday, February, 27, 2007: The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
- Facilitators: Gail Christie, PhD, Microbiology/Immunology and Amy Hostetler, Science Writer
- Tuesday, January 9, 2007: The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
- Facilitator: Ruth Clemo, PhD, Anatomy and Neurobiology
- Thursday, November 9, 2006: Galileo’s Daughter by Dava Sobel
- Facilitator: Michele Meade, PhD, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
- Tuesday, September 12, 2006: The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
- Facilitators: Gail Christie, PhD, Microbiology/ Immunology and Kamar Godder, MD, Pediatrics
- Wednesday, June 7, 2006: Feminine Mystique by
Betty Friedan, 1963
- Facilitators:
Rita Shiang, PhD, Human Genetics and Margaret McLellan, MS, RD, Obesity Surgery Center
- Tuesday, March 28, 2006: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
- Facilitators: Joyce Lloyd, PhD, Human Genetics and Gail Christie, PhD, Microbiology/Immunology
- Tuesday, January 24, 2006: A Fortune-Teller Told Me: Earthbound Travels in the Far East by Tiziano Terzani
- Facilitiators: Michelle Meade, PhD, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Joyce Lloyd, PhD, Human Genetics
- Tuesday, November 15, 2005: On Beauty by Zadie Smith
- Facilitators: Cheryl Al-Mateen, MD, Psychiatry, and Joann Bodurtha, MD, MPH, Human Genetics
- September, 2005: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by JK Rollins
- Facilitators: Karen Cropsey, Psy.D., Wilder School of Government, and Cheryl Al-Mateen, MD, Psychiatry
- Tuesday, June 28, 2005: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
- Facilitators: Rita Shiang, PhD, Human Genetics, Polly Cole, Massey Cancer Center
- Wednesday, April 13, 2005: The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson
- Facilitators: Joann Hudson, MD, Anesthesology, and Mary Ellen Olbrish, MD, Psychiatry
- Tuesday, January 11, 2005: The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
- Facilitiators:
Joann Bodurtha, MD, MPH, Human Genetics, and Carol Hampton, Office of
Faculty and Instructional Development
Book Reviews
Reviewed by Joyce Loyd, PhD, Spring, 2006
Cloud Atlas
David Mitchell
Random House, New York, originally published by Hodder and Stoughton, London
August, 2004
509 pages
In March, the WISDM (Women in Science, Dentistry and Medicine) Book Club met for dinner and discussed Cloud Atlas. The group was divided in their opinions of this unusual book, which made for interesting conversation. About half of the women loved the book, and the other half were somewhat (to much) less enthusiastic.
Although Cloud Atlas is considered to be a novel, it is really several short stories woven together by loose (sometimes tenuous) connections. The individual stories are told in the form of a musical piece written by one of the characters, moving from one theme to another (and so on) and then back again through the themes to the beginning. This format was distracting for some, because stories were cut off in the middle, to be finished later in the book. But the style also was stimulating, even challenging, and it was great fun to find the links between the yarns. The tales were set in 1850 through the future, everywhere from New Zealand to Belgium to England to California, and from the Korea to the Hawaii of the future. Those who loved the book looked forward to reading it again, to tie the threads together that they missed the first time. Everyone felt that the author was extremely clever in his use of language; each of the six stories is written almost in a different dialect of English. This could also be challenging, some even felt that the author was just showing off, but we agreed he is probably brilliant.
Having read the book a few months ago now, the best way for me to begin to describe its flavor is by presenting a few memorable vignettes. Four seniors meet in the garden hut of their maximum security retirement home, plotting their escape. A clone of a slave race learns that her colleagues do not retire to a heavenly paradise as portrayed by their leader, but rather become the stuff from which the next generation is made. A young woman reporter and an older man who is a scientist are stuck in an elevator together and become close friends, finding that they have more in common even than a mutual acquaintance (her father). You will need to read the book, to find out which camp you are in.
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Reviewed by Cheryl S. Al-Mateen, MD, FAACAP, DFAPA and
Carole W. Singleton, PhD, former Director of Drama at Howard University, Winter, 2006:
On Beauty
Zadie Smith
The Penguin Press HC
September, 2005
464 pages
In September, we read On Beauty, by Zadie Smith. By far, this novel generated the most passionate discussion. On Beauty is the third novel written by this biracial woman from London. One member of our group found it to be a “poor imitation” of Howard’s End by E.M. Forster. Indeed, the book is an homage to Forster, adding complications of race and gender to the story which revolves around the Belsey and Kipps families. The liberal Belsey family has a white British patriarch, an African-American matriarch and three adolescent/young adult children raised in the U.S. The conservative Kipps father comes from Haiti; he and his wife have raised their two children in Great Britain. The fathers are competing scholars.
The connections between their families are thought-provoking. Each member of our circle was struck by something different: the life of the academic, the question of the true worth of the Ivy League school, the importance of sex to men versus women, the nature of ethnic identity and its development, and the definition of beauty in art and in people. While some found the book less than accurate in its description of academic life, others (including myself) vociferously argued the accuracy of its description of various inter-class issues in the African-American community. We did agree that each of us found a slightly different book, depending on our own perspective. Although I had not previously read Howard’s End (or even seen the movie!), I have downloaded it to make my own comparison. I have recommended it to several men and women, and find it a true conversation-catalyst. We strongly recommend On Beauty for its uncanny ability to stimulate one’s sensibilities regarding beauty far above and beyond the concept that it is “in the eyes of the beholder.”
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Reviewed by Mary Helen Hackney,MD, Fall, 2005:
Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal
Rachel Naomi Remen, MD
Riverhead Books, New York
August, 1997
336 pages
I happened upon Kitchen Table Wisdom by
Rachel Naomi Remen, MD while browsing
through an airport bookstore during
a layover. It fits three critical criteria:
lightweight, a collection of short stories
that allow breaks, and an intriguing subtitle “Stories That Heal.”
Dr. Remen is a physician who has had her own personal journey with chronic illness. Although she trained as a pediatrician,
she has spent most of her life
counseling others facing difficult illnesses. Her book is a collection
of stories, some just vignettes, from her life and the lives
of her patients. Through shared stories, life is shared, supported,
and nurtured, and healing takes place even if death is the final
outcome. Some stories illustrate a lack of sensitivity by members
of the medical community; I hope we now do a better job training
young physicians. I read some stories realizing how much we
learn from others and how our view of what is important about
life is molded by the stories we share. Many of the stories paralleled
those of my oncology patients.
As a first year medical student, read it so that you learn to approach
your patients with an open mind and heart. As a veteran
physician, read it to reconfirm the spirituality of medicine that is
often buried under technology, paperwork, and the rush. I didn’t
like all of the stories; others I reread several times. I suggest you
read it and then reflect on how shared stories have influenced
your life.
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Reviewed by Amit Razdan, MD and Bela Sood, MD, FAACAP, Winter, 2005:
Man's Search for Meaning
Victor E Frankle
Pocket Books, New York
First published 1946, rev ed: December, 1997
224 pages
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E Frankl (1905-1997) is a highly influential work in the psychiatric
literature – almost on par with Freud. Frankl, a
Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at the
University of Vienna Medical School, spent three
years at Auschwitz, Dachau and other concentration
camps during World War II. His experiences
and observations in the concentration camps
shaped this work, first written in 1946.
The first part chronicles Frankl’s experience in the concentration
camps. The psychological effects of being completely dehumanized
and debilitated, and the resilience of the human spirit in surviving
those experiences, are central. Frankl discusses how people find
meaning in such conditions. That meaning sustains them and gives
them a reason to survive. He frequently quotes Nietzsche: “He who
has a why to live for can bear almost any how” and “That which does
not kill me makes me stronger.”
The second section discusses logotherapy, Frankl’s theory of
psychotherapy derived from his experiences in the concentration
camps. Logotherapy (from the Greek logos, translated as “meaning”)
focuses on the meaning of human existence as well as on our search
for this meaning. According to logotherapy, striving for meaning is
our primary motivational force. Frankl writes that we are driven by a“will to meaning,” in contrast to the Freudian principle of a “will to
pleasure.” The three primary means of finding meaning in life are
creating influential work, loving another human being, and suffering.
This part of the book is plainly written and easy to understand.
This book takes the reader on an emotional journey into the
holocaust, seeing its effects on the mind, and provides an inspiring
and optimistic look at ways not only to survive adversity but turn it
into something meaningful. It offers health professionals guidance in
facing the trauma of illness and finding the meaning of our vocation
in the midst of our current existential crisis. It is a thought-provoking
work, which still holds weight today. We recommend it to all.
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Reviewed by Bela Sood, MD, FAACAP, Spring, 2004:
Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most
Douglas F Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen, Roger Fisher
Penguin Putnam, New York
April, 2000
250 pages
Do you ever feel that you hear the same
refrain again and again and nothing gets
better? Do you ever get the dreaded feeling
that you can no longer avoid the misery you feel when faced
with some person or situation? That you must do something
about it but have no idea how?
I would not have thought that a bunch of lawyers could put
together a book on therapeutic communication, but this group
from the Harvard Negotiation Project has created an effective
framework to help those who clearly want to make a transformational
change in their communication patterns based on
authentic and honest relationships with people. This is not
about quick fixes or manipulative tactics to get the better of
someone. As a psychiatrist, I was struck by the authors’ use of
psychodynamic principles to understand behavior, cutting
through layers of dysfunctional communications to get to the
heart of an issue.
The authors also address relationship-building and the power of
authenticity in life; they state a powerful yet intuitive dictum:“It is more relaxing to be yourself.” Create a world where your
genuine stance on issues is easy for you to express and for others
to see, so you are not spinning your wheels trying to extricate
yourself from situations that your obfuscation leads to in the
first place.
I had difficulty finishing the first chapter, uncomfortable with
the pop psychology feel of the material. But by the third chapter,
I was hooked. As someone who embraces conflict in my
professional and personal life I actually learned a great deal and
received theoretical validation for many intuitive approaches I
take in management. I would highly recommend it for people
from all walks of life and in any kind of relationship. I suppose
that means all of the human species, as relationships define us.
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Reviewed by Joann Bodurtha, MD, MPH, Fall, 2003:
A Potent Spell: Mother Love and the Power of Fear
Janna Malamud Smith
Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company
January,
2003
304 pages
Read this if you need an antidote to mother-bashing
in any of its forms.
Smith reviews the history of mothers’ responsibility
for children’s health and safety and the consequences
of this primordial and socially reinforced motivation. She weaves stories from
life and literature and years of child-rearing advice books into a sobering
reflection on the dread mothers feel about the potential of losing a child. If
you have ever stayed up late waiting for a child to come home, bought a baby
monitor, or had a mother or friend who has done this, this book provides a
context for mothering. Smith writes,
“What we call modern or postmodern life represents a shift in fulcrum
between replication of culture and innovation, or at least a large confusion
about how the two fit together. With it have come demands on
mothers both to fill the gaps between what is no longer communally
offered, and also to raise children able to function within this great
new chaos and complexity. Rather than urging this new world to care
better for children, it seems more efficient to pressure mothers” (205).
Smith’s book provides a broad social perspective and a lot of mental health help for $25.00.
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Reviewed by Bela Sood, MD, FAACAP, Spring, 2003:
Tempered Radicals: How People Use
Difference to Inspire Change at Work
Debra L. Meyerson
Harvard Business School Publishing
October 2001
256 pages
If you feel that you don't fit in but that you are put on this earth
to make a difference, you will recognize parts of yourself in this
book. Meyerson observes that people work to change organizations
in a variety of ways, from outright militancy to quiet
advocacy. Often they do not win official recognition, but by
taking a stand on something they feel passionate about, they leave
a legacy for others to follow. They help to legitimize controversial
yet socially relevant perspectives, which can eventually lead to an
improved working environment.
Meyerson uses the term "tempered" to differentiate strategies
of aggressive confrontation from the more contemplative stance of
steady change creators who persist over time, working from the
inside, never forfeiting their principles, and earning just enough
insider credibility to make an impact. This book is based on years
of interviews with executives and workers from 3 companies that
embrace very different work cultures. The subjects who serve as
case studies were identified as change agents by their organizational
leadership.
Meyerson discusses a variety of issues that these "tempered
radicals" grapple with, such as sexual orientation, race, ethnicity,
gender, and socially conscious thinking. She observes how these
men and women negotiate these hurdles while garnering respect
within the organization. Their way of creating a more tolerant
and receptive work environment is reassuring.
These tempered radicals are part of our everyday world:
people who use their unique gifts in a positive, creative, and
effective way. For many persons of difference this book may be a
validation of what you already know or feel, or it could serve as a
roadmap for the years to come. For those who feel they do fit into
the mainstream, this book may provide a positive perspective on
promoting diversity.
I found it a quick read and recommend it highly.
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