Raising the Dead: A Doctor's Encounter with His Own Mortality

Raising the Dead chronicles surgeon-author Richard Selzer's experience with a severe illness that left him in a coma for three weeks. As both a doctor and patient, Selzer provides a unique perspective on serious illness and the medical establishment. The memoir details Selzer's time before, during, and after his near-death experience in the intensive care unit. His medical background allows him to describe the clinical aspects of his condition with precision while also capturing the human experience of being gravely ill. His account moves between past and present as he reflects on his career as a surgeon and his new reality as a patient. The narrative includes his interactions with hospital staff, family members, and his own altered state of consciousness. The work explores fundamental questions about mortality, identity, and the relationship between doctors and patients. Through his personal story, Selzer examines how illness transforms both body and mind, and what it means for a healer to become the one who needs healing.

Readers describe this medical memoir as contemplative and raw, documenting Selzer's experience with Legionnaire's disease and his 23-day coma. Many note the detailed, surgeon's-eye view of being a patient rather than a doctor. Likes: - Precise, poetic writing style - Unflinching descriptions of medical experiences - Insights into doctor-patient relationships - Personal reflections on mortality Dislikes: - Some found the philosophical tangents meandering - A few readers wanted more medical details - Several mentioned the pacing slows in the middle sections Ratings: Goodreads: 3.9/5 (156 ratings) Amazon: 4.2/5 (24 ratings) Notable reader comments: "His description of emerging from coma captures something I've never seen articulated before" - Goodreads reviewer "The medical writing is excellent but he loses focus when discussing spirituality" - Amazon reviewer "Provides unique perspective as both doctor and critically ill patient" - LibraryThing review

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🔬 Author Richard Selzer was both a surgeon and a celebrated literary figure, writing extensively about medicine with a uniquely poetic style that earned him the nickname "the poet laureate of surgery." 🏥 The book chronicles Selzer's own near-death experience during a 23-day coma caused by Legionnaire's disease in 1991, when he was 63 years old. 💭 During his coma, Selzer experienced vivid hallucinations that included encounters with his deceased father and surreal journeys through what he described as "the geography of the unconscious mind." 📚 Before writing this deeply personal memoir, Selzer was already known for his essay collections like "Mortal Lessons" and "Letters to a Young Doctor," which combined medical observations with philosophical reflections. 🎓 Yale School of Medicine, where Selzer taught surgery, now offers the Richard Selzer Prize for Writing, celebrating works that bridge medicine and literature.